Bachelor King 14: Terra-Track
by creativeKing95
Summary: Spiny and the rest of the gang go on a camping trip in the mountains. While there, they make an astounding discovery which could provide Amarkia with an endless supply of energy. But the Red Eyes are not far behind. A fierce galactic conflict unleashes itself as both sides fight to gain control. But their efforts to save the universe results in tragedy.
1. Chapter 1

"Cut that out!" I yelled frantically. As always, he paid absolutely no attention to what I said. That didn't surprise me. He acted as if though I wasn't even there. Now his tail was starting to tighten around my neck. Obviously, with my oxygen supply compromised, I started choking.

"Larry! Let go of me!"

And well, he just went on the same way he was. Running like a madman down the heavily-commuted street with just everyone watching. We made a sharp turn at the intersection, and since I was pretty much flying attached to his tail, I went swinging towards the right.

I nearly struck a pedestrian…only to crash my face right into a silver fire hydrant.

Now let me say this: IT WAS NOT FUNNY. You try running at full speed and smash your head against a fire hydrant. Believe me, that's no fun stuff. It felt like some had struck me in the face with a metal baseball bat.

And yes, I have had the unfriendly privilege of having being struck with that also.

Of course, Larry did not know or care about the fact that he had caused a possibly fracture of my nose, mouth, or cranium and just kept running. When we reached the entrance of Arnold's I was afraid that I might have the same experience with the walls or maybe the parking lot signs.

Oh, no. Larry was much more creative than that. Instead, he threw me through the doors and you can guess the results, right? Well, I have no idea what got into Larry. I did not provoke him nor did I give him any good reason to act the way he did.

We had just come out of a Cabinet Meeting. We'd had quite a bit of action at the borders. On the northeastern side of Amarkia, our Border Patrol Guards had a little scuffle with some people affiliated with ISIS.

The same thing happened on our Western Gate. Instead that it was with Boko Haram. But with both cases, our level of domestic security was questioned and I'd been forced to hold a press conference a few days ago.

Afterwards, I'd started receiving threatening messages. Just a lot of nonsense about "Allah will rain fire on you," and things like that.

But just to show you how dangerous my job is, let me tell you what happened yesterday. Boy, was that a lot of excitement! Larry ran into my room screaming at the top of his lungs and the security alarms were blazing.

"What is it? What's going on?"

"Get in the bunker!"

"Why? What's happening?"

"Just get in the bunker, you idiot! Get in the bunker!"

I didn't hesitate for a minute. I jumped out of my bed, not bothering to put my slippers on. I zipped down the hallway to the nearest Bunker Entrance. There are several of those throughout the Palace. They're in almost all the room. In case of an emergency, you simply slide down a narrow tube and it leads right into the Bunker.

I've described the Bunker before so I see no need to describe it again.

Anyways, I ran down the hallway and saw a blur running in the opposite direction. "Larry!"

"What?"

"The Bunker's this way, you dope!"

"Oh. Yeah, I knew that." Then, as usual, he ran over me, knocking me to the ground and leaving nothing but a cloud of smoke behind. I was tempted to try to catch him and give him a beating. But not with my life in grave peril.

I finally reached down to the Bunker just as Larry was shutting the door. The rest of the family was already there. We sat against the wall while the guards grabbed their submachine guns and shields and stepped outside to check the area.

"What's going on?" Kathy asked confused.

"I thought Larry said it was a drill," Greeny said.

I wasn't sure myself, and I certainly didn't want to lie to my little brother. But I didn't want to upset anyone so I just blurted out, "Yeah, that's right! It's a drill. It's our monthly drill! Right, Larry?"

His swiveled over to mine and both his eyebrows jumped. "Oh, uh, yeah. That's right! Just a drill."

I felt guilty, lying to Greeny, but I didn't want to frighten him. Pondering on that same thought, I heard Larry's voice inside my head say It's far from being a drill.

Answering with Telepathy, I said, So what is going on?

An armed man was seen walking suspiciously around the Palace.

The thought of a terrorist or some other crackpot walking around the Palace or anywhere else in Amarkia was enough to accelerate my pulse and make my stomach go queasy. I was afraid to ask anything else so I didn't.

I'm not kidding when I say that my fear turned to boredom in that bunker. Time went by so slowly. We didn't have windows or any indication of time so we couldn't tell what time it was. About after an hour or so, I started getting just irritated of sitting down, doing nothing, staring at nothing, and hearing nothing but our breathing.

And our stomachs. We hadn't had any time to have breakfast.

Larry must've either thought the same thing or he was reading my mind. He stood, not letting go of the M17 rifle he had and disappeared into another section of the bunker. When he came back, he returned with some French toast and bacon for everyone. He even brought orange juice and milk.

After our improvised meal, we spent who knows how many hours waiting for the "All Clear" signal. To spend the time we played Monopoly, UNO, Chess, Checkers, and even Twister. Yes, we were that bored.

When Larry finally said that it was safe to come out, I noticed that it was substantially darker. I'd gotten down to the Bunker in such a rush that I didn't even get my watch. So like I said, I had no idea of knowing what time it was.

I went up back to my room, and the alarm clock next to the bed said 4:15 pm. Holy cats! We'd been in the bunker for nine hours! Believe me; even if it guarantees your safety, being in a windowless, underground bunker for nine hours is no fun at all. Just try it sometime.

Later we found out that the man had been caught and arrested under the charges of attempted murder, suspicious activity, conspiracy, and possible ties to terroristic organizations.

I was there personally and he didn't answer a single question. Who do you work for? Why were you carrying a walkie-talkie? With whom were you speaking with? Why were you wandering around Royal Grounds without a permit? He didn't say anything. All he said was that, "King Spiny will be judged."

All we knew is that those border attacks occurred because ISIS and Boko Haram were furious that we hadn't agreed to their "negotiations." They just wanted their teachings to be taught freely in Amarkia.

Obviously my response was "Ha! Over my dead body!"

I mean, please! They must be crazy to think that. But then again, they are terrorists. The next morning Larry and I came out completely exhausted out of a last-minute meeting with the Royal Assembly and High Congress directors and just needed a break.

We hadn't been to Arnold's in quite a while because it was undergoing remodeling. The outside remained pretty much the same, but on the inside they changed it quite a bit. It used to look like classic 1950's American restaurant. Now it had a 1960s look. And they also added a bunch of things to the menu.

Before the remodeling, they concentrated on just burgers and fries and that stuff. Now, they also announced they would be selling frozen yogurts, homemade ice cream, hot dogs, chili, nachos, ice cream sodas, and lots of new things.

And that's when Larry suddenly got crazy and started dragging me by the neck like a water skier.

And it's no fun when you've just smashed your face into a fire hydrant and top speed then go flying through the doors of a restaurant and land with a loud crash on a table.

My vision got blurry and my head felt like my skull had just gotten too small for my brain. I shook my head, trying to get the vapors out of it to see if I could see well. A crowd of people, mostly teens had gathered around me. Obviously, they didn't expect for me to come flying in and crash headfirst on a table. A new table, by the way.

Several girls came out and helped me up. "I'm okay. Don't worry, people! It's fine. Just a little incident. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" said one of the girls. She was still holding my arm. I noticed she had brilliant blue eyes and light brown hair. My heart started lurching and I felt my face getting hot.

"Ahem! Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry." She smiled and left. Phew! Now don't get me wrong. I'm loyal to my girlfriend but I'm not blind. When you're in my position, you have to get used to being around a lot of pretty girls.

Everyone returned to their seats and their booths as Larry came walking in casually as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Yet everyone stared at him, already knowing what happened. I didn't need any pity from anyone, but I was glad that they were aware of the facts.

Larry slid in in front of me, grabbing the shiny new menu. "Spiny, you really have to learn to control yourself. You could've gotten hurt."

Ignoring his foolish remark, I scanned my eyes over the menu. Even the texture felt new!


	2. Chapter 2

"Don't worry, Dexter, I'll take care of these gentlemen." Another waiter, also new, came to our table. He got out a notepad and started writing. "How are you today, King?"

"Exhausted and injured like you don't know how."

Either he ignored what I said or he was too dumb to recognize sarcasm, because he said, "How would you like to try…"

"Actually, could you just bring me a glass of water first?" I mean, after the experience I'd just had my body was exhausted. And besides, my throat started feeling parched and my tongue even burned a little.

The waiter ignored me and said, "How would you like to try our new lime-flavored frozen yogurt?"

"No, thank you. I just want water. Now, if you'll kindly…" he didn't even let me finish. You know what he did? He grabbed me by the jaw with one hand, and forced a spoon of that lime frozen yogurt with the other hand.

The cold substance lodge itself in my throat and with my airway blocked, I started choking. I coughed loudly and pointed at my throat. These people don't get any kind of a hint. He seemed perfectly normal, not aware that their King was choking thanks to him.

Instead, he said, "How about our new Spicy-Chile Frozen Yogurt?"

Oh, no! Not that! I'm choking, you darn fool! Can't you see? Bring me some water! Of course I didn't yell all this because...well, like I said, I was suffocating on some stupid frozen yogurt. So I resorted to yelling at him in my mind.

Of course he didn't get the hint. Before you could say, "Spider Goulash" he grabbed my face again and forced a huge spoon of that spicy yogurt. My eyes started stinging and the tears felt like acid. My tongue went on fire and I could feel the insides of my mouth screaming in pain and my taste buds incinerating.

Therefore, my next reaction was completely impulse and reflex. I struck the waiter with my fist. Not two seconds later, several guards appeared and pinned me to the floor. By now everyone had gotten quiet and was observing what was happening.

Some people were murmuring and a few were taking pictures with their phones and their tablets. (Kind of ironic, isn't it? Kids with modern technology in an old-fashioned restaurant.) I sure hope they didn't have friends or family in the press. The last thing I needed now was a news scandal of some sort.

A man who seemed in his late 30s walked out of the kitchen. He had an assistant's manager uniform. He walked over to us as the guards picked me up and held me tightly by the forearms. "Why, hello King. How are you today?" he asked.

Sometimes it's best not to say anything.

"Let go of me!" I shouted at the guards. Once released from their iron grip (a bruise formed, by the way in case you're interested) and I turned my attention to the man. His name tag said "Han." Well, he sure wasn't related to Han Solo, I'll tell you that much.

"How would you like to try our new exotic fruit sodas?"

How would you like to have your place shut down? Before I could even finish that thought, can you guess what happened? Right. He shoved fruit soda down my gullet. All right, I'd had it!

I pushed him away and yelled, "Will everyone please stop shoving food down my throat? Why do you think I have hands for?" It was my darn luck that just as I was finishing that sentence, a stupid fly somehow managed to…

Well, long story short, a fly got lodged in my throat and I started wheezing and coughing again. I yelled for water. Finally someone reacted! Larry came running with a cup of water. For a minute I thought the water seemed funny. But all I cared about was getting water down my throat to soothe all the irritation imposed on it.

When it hit my taste buds, I was reminded of the time I was six and I accidently swallowed a penny. Nothing happened, nothing serious. My parents and my doctor scolded me and they had to give me a tablespoon of pure olive oil every day.

Ugh! It was so unpleasant. But why did this water remind me of…then, when I felt the liquid touching the inside of my throat, I noticed the unmistakable, and disgusting reminder of olive fields.

I spit it…or tried to anyways, with some of it drooping over my lower lip. "Yech! What kind of water is this?"

Larry quickly shook his head. "I don't know. It doesn't mix with this other water!" He pointed at the cup. I observed it more closely. The bottom half was clear, pure water. The upper half was light yellow and did not mix with the water. And in the middle, was a dark green divider.

"This is oil, you stupid jerk! You gave me oil to drink!"

His eyes became saucers and he said, "Oops. Heh heh. Now, Spiny, remember your image!"

My vision turned red and I felt my blood starting to boil. Larry ran towards the kitchen, figuring that I wouldn't chase him in there since there was a sign that said Employees Only. Ha! He was about to get a nasty surprise.

I ran behind him, not about to let him get away easy. Yeah, sure he was likely to beat me up and humiliate me, but at least I'd try to. And maybe, as in other occasions he'd have the decency to let me beat him.

It's embarrassing to say this but…well, somehow, some of that oil was on the floor and I slipped and…just at that moment, another waiter was coming out with a hot cinnamon-cherry pie.

You can guess what happened next right?

No, I didn't get hit in the pie with the face. I mean, uh, I didn't get hit in the face with the pie. I did slip backwards and struck my head on the floor which sent everything spinning and the jarring sensation went all the way down my spinal cord.

And since my leg was extended out on the floor, by simple law of physics including motion and force and inertia, the waiter stopped moving and came crashing down. Let me tell you, the force caused by a falling 140-pound waiter on your leg is enough to let out a true scream of pain.

But, because of the law of physics, the pie kept moving, like a UFO sailing through the air. Only it didn't crash into a desert in New Mexico. This one crash-landed right into a girl's face. Smack! And of course it was still hot and the cinnamon got in her nose and eyes so you can imagine what that felt like.

"AH! Help! Somebody! Get this gunk off my face!" Fortunately for her, Al and Arnold, the owners were wise enough to place a water hose inside. Like the ones firefighters use. Larry ran out of who-know-where and unfolded the hose. Then another guy twisted the knob and high-pressurized water shot out of the hose.

I don't think that water flying all over the place and Larry getting lifted into the air and flying along with the hose was what the girl had on mind when she yelled for water. The hose was finally turned off.

Everyone and I mean everyone and everything was dripping wet, even the, uh…money. And the notepad. The only ones spared were the waiters and the cooks who were in the kitchen. And Arnold. And Al. Wherever they were.

"Ahem, yes, well…" said Han. He grabbed a napkin and started drying himself, in vain. Surprisingly, I was dry also. Maybe because I'd been lying on the ground, oil still all over my mouth and the headache which was now fading.

I grabbed onto an empty stool and forced myself up. The girl who'd been attacked by the freak hose was now a frozen, dripping, red-faced, waterlogged statue. "My…my makeup! You ruined my makeup!" She stared murderously at Larry.

Showing no sign of sanity or good judgement, Larry blurted out, "That's not all that's messed up. You should look at your hair."

She growled at him and ran outside.

"Come back soon!" said Han as she almost knocked down the doors. Mental note: tell Arnold to install automatic doors.

I would face-slap myself, but I was afraid that something worse would happen. No, really. There's no telling what would happen. I was afraid to even breathe! But there was something I could do.

"I want to speak to the owners! Where's Arnold?" I demanded to Han.

"He's in the bathroom."

"He's where?"

He raised his eyebrow and placed his hand on his hips. "He's got necessities too, you know."

Yeah, I know. Everyone does. Let's not get talking about that. Much less in a restaurant. And remember, you haven't been given water. I guess Han interpreted my thoughtful look as an annoyed one because he went over to the door of the boy's restroom and knocked on it.

"Hey, Arnold!"

"What is it?" Arnold responded, in his noticeable Chinese accent.

"There's a crazy guy out here that wants to see you!"

"What?!" I grabbed Han by the scruff of his uniform and pulled him closer. "What did you say? Who's the crazy guy?"

"Uh…uh. No, that's not what I mean."

"Be right there, Spiny!" Arnold yelled.

Great! That's just what I needed. "Thanks a lot, Arnold!" I yelled back.

"For what?"

"Nothing. Forget it." I let go of Han. "Now, say you serve my friend and me some food. That's what we came; not to make a circus."

He nodded. "Yes, sir." Larry and I returned to our booth as everyone went back to their business. The music turned back on and the cooks got back to…well, cooking. What else? Anyways, Han came to our table.

"Since all the trouble, I'll personally take care of you two. What would you like, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, well." I grabbed the new menu again and read through it carefully. "I'll have the dark-chocolate soda, the new Vanilla-Apple-Vanilla smoothie, the Regular Triple-Meat Burger, and large fries."

He was still writing when he said, "Okay and would you…"

Larry butted in and said, "I'll have three large hot dogs."

"Excuse me, I don't want…" I tried to say something but Mr. Jabberjay kept interrupting.

"Chili cheese, please."

"I don't want…"

"I want one of your new fruit sodas. Any flavor is okay."

"I don't want onions on my…"

"And I want a small slice of that same pie the girl ruined."

"WILL YOU SHUT UP AND LET ME TALK, PLEASE?!"

He turned on me and yelled, "NO!"

I placed my hand on his jaw to keep it shut. "No onions on my burger!" I said quickly. Just in time when Larry let himself loose and said, "Put extra onions on my hot dogs."

"Okay, got it. That'll be $42.20." He handed me the check. I grabbed my wallet and handed him the exact amount. He smiled mischievously and returned to the kitchen.

"Spiny."

"What is it?"

"You don't pay taxes, you nitwit!"

"What are you talking about?"

"That total. That's not that total for you! That would've been $40. He's charging you taxes." HUH?! I whirled around and saw Han finishing at another table and returning to the kitchen. I jumped out of the seat and grabbed him just before he left.

"What's the idea?" He turned around to see. "Oh, um, yes?"

"All right. Hand it back." I stuck out my hand, palm-up. He didn't even bat and eyelash. "Hand what back?" he said.

"Don't make me bring out the guards."

He just stared blankly. Then he handed the dirty dishes he was handling to someone else. He reached into his pocket and placed something in my hand. Two $1 Amarkian dollar bills and twenty cents. "You can't blame a guy for trying."

As I sat down again, waiting for our order I thought to myself Oh, yes you can.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, here come our orders!" Larry shouted. I turned around and my hunger level escalated as I saw the steam hissing off of those fries and the scent of the hamburger. After Han left, I grabbed a napkin and set it on my lap. Larry, being the slob he is, placed it around his neck…with the long end behind him. So it looked like a cape.

Sometimes I look and wonder. Other times I just look. And other times I just sigh.

When Larry had ordered his hot dogs to be hot, he really meant it! There was tons of steam coming off of them. He blew on it but it had no effect.

"Yeah, that's what you get for getting three hot dogs which are nearly a foot long and have chili on them."

He took in a huge gulp of fresh air and released a hurricane upon the still steaming hot dogs. Sure enough it worked. However, he blew on so strong that one of the pieces of chili cheese got picked up by the mini-gale and found its way into my eye.

"Ow! Hey, watch it, will you?!"

He grabbed his hot dog and grinned at me. "Careful, Spiny. It's hot." He bit into his hot dog and started munching away.

Well, I wasn't going to waste my time arguing with a senseless dope that had no hope of ever recovering good judgement. I took a sip of my dark chocolate soda. Mmm! My taste buds exploded and my mouth became heaven for them.

"Hey, this tastes great! Almost like a smoothie." Then I grabbed one of my fries. "Oh, this is a million times better than a French fry from any American restaurant. Hey, Larry?"

"What?"

"If you want fries, then get your own. Stop taking mine."

"I didn't take yours!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? Then what's that in your right hand?"

"Uh….fingers?"

"And what is in the fingers?"

"Uh…claws?"

"And what do you have in the claws?"

"Um…in the claws, I have muck. And in the much, there are microbes."

Okay already! I slammed my fist on the table and yelled, "Stop! No one makes fun of me!" I grabbed his hand and what do you suppose he had in it? More than half of all my French fries.

I sighed. "Larry, all you have to do is call the nearest waiter and ask him or her to bring you a side of fries. It's not complicated. Any brick-headed idiot can do it."

"I was wondering how you did it."

"What did you say?!"

"Nothing, nothing." Larry took a nip from a tray as it was coming by, but the waiter didn't see him. "Hey, we need to get from that new Velvet Chocolate ice cream."

"Maybe we will."

The doors opened and I turned back to see who it was, hoping that it would be Lilia. It wasn't, but I waved to him. "Hey, Roger!"

He smiled and walked over to our booth. "Hey, guys? What's up? How are you, Larry?"

Larry had just eaten another huge piece of his hot dog. He took a big swallow and said, "Hhhhiiiiii!"

The repulsive stench of onions reverberated in the air and the atmosphere quickly turned toxic. "Oh, that's disgusting!" I yelled.

Roger's eyes turned, not red, but orange. "Oh, my gosh! Larry, did you have to get extra onions on your hot dog?"

"Why? And miss the expression on your face?" He was clearly enjoying this. Ignoring him, I offered my chocolate soda to Roger. "Here take a sip. It'll help." He grabbed the glass and took a gulp from the cup, not the straw. Oh well.

"Ahhh! Much better. Hey that's the best stuff I've tasted!" he said with a beaming smile.

"I know right? They just finished remodeling Arnold's. It's got a more 1960s look and they have tons of new items. It's mostly frozen yogurts and shakes."

He snapped his fingers. "Hey, I know what I came to eat here." He called the first waiter who had served us. Or tried to, at least. Anyways, he came over with the same angry and clearly rude expression. "Could I have a large bowl of Apple-Cinnamon homemade ice cream?"

"Mmm-hmm." Eesh. What an attitude. Chill, man.

"Hey, I just thought of something." I looked up at the waiter and tried not to notice the wrinkles in his forehead. "Could I get two large Pecan/Cherry/Cream shakes to go? With homemade ice cream, please."

He nodded and started walking back to the kitchen. "This strange weirdo wants cherry-picking slaves to go."

WHAT THE?! I quickly stood up and turned around. "I said Cherry, Pecan, and Cream, you darn fool! Can't you read? If you're not going to do this job right, why did you bother to sign up?"

"I enjoy my job. I just hate people!"

O-kay. "Learn to like it, buddy."

"And if you keep on bothering me while I try to make a living in this dump, I'll put laxatives in your food!"

My eardrums were still ringing. "What…did…he…just…say?"

"You better leave him alone," said Roger.

"Who asked you?" said Larry.

I sat back down and mentioned to Roger, "Ah forget it. Better to not create conflicts. And don't listen to Larry. He's just like Sid from Ice Age. All he wants to do is call attention."

In a mocking tone, Larry said, "No, really! My feet are really hot! Ow, ow, oh, ouch, ow!"

When Roger's order came and he started eating, I said to him, "So how's your family? Your parents and your brother?"

"Oh, they're fine. Zach got a summer internship at the university in Tentpole."

"Really? That's great! He did remember to bring his snow gear right? Because he's going to be living in the tallest peaks of Amarkia for three months."

"Yeah. We miss him a lot but, he leaving has made me think of what I want to do after high school. I mean, I'm going to graduate in just two years." That's two Amarkian years, by the way. Not two Gregorian calendar years. So that would make it 1,600 years. Remember, Roger is an accelerated student.

"What do you want to study? Like, what's your interest?"

"Mmm. Green energy sources. I've taken some courses on that and that's what I want to study. Renewable energy."

For Amarkians, that's like studying law or medicine so it's pretty big. "Wow sounds great. You know, Patty wants to study to become either a nurse or a scientist."

"Really? What kind of scientist?"

I took another bite of my hamburger and let my mouth savor the tender meat, the lettuce, the melted cheese, the tomatoes, and the pickles. After swallowing I answered, "I'm not sure. She says she just wants to help people."

"She's got a very noble personality, right?"

I nodded. "She sure does. And uh, Kathy wants to study to become a teacher. She'd like to teach History at a high school or a college."

Larry took a sip of his fruit soda and said, "Ha, yeah right. She should probably study more about life itself then think of becoming a teacher." The three of us laughed at Larry's remark. You have to admit that Kathy can be a little naïve about important things at times. But we still love her.

"And, uh, Lilia wants to be a psychologist."

Larry responded, "She probably wants to understand you, Spiny."

"What?!"

To which he responded by chortling and gloating and laughing like a complete maniac. Makes sense because he is a maniac. But he shouldn't have laughed while drinking his soda. You know what happens next, right?

Yep. He started choking and struck his chest with his fist. He coughed hard and (you guessed it) sprayed fruit soda into my eyes. "AH! Hey!"

"Sorry."

"Good thing for you, that wasn't the chili."

I don't know what got into him. He gets like this sometimes. He just suddenly starts to act crazy and do irrational things. He grabbed my hamburger and bit half of it. "Hey, that's mine!" I protested.

With his tail he grabbed nearly all my French fries and resumed stuffing his face. Before I could say something, with his other hand, he removed all the contents of my hamburger and left me with nothing but the bread.

After eating all of my stuff that had cost me money and blood to get, he let out a huge, "BUUURRPPP!" Several people looked at us and one couple actually left in complete disgust. Arnold glared at me from the other side. I just smiled innocently and waved.

"Anyways," I started to say to Roger. "How are things with Darla? How is it dating a tomboy?"

"Things are going great, actually. It's different. But a better, more fun kind of different, you know?"

"You know what she wants to study after school?" I asked.

Just as he was opening his mouth, Larry butted in. "Yeah, she wants to be a mortician."

Of course, Larry being no expert on discreetness said it in a loud voice and several people started looking at us and whispering. "Shh! Keep your voice down!" I said.

"You know that a mortician is, right?" he said in the same, normal tone.

"You don't mean the ones who bury people at cemeteries?" Roger said.

"No, I mean the people who dress the dead up after taking out their kidneys and organs and stuff."

Obviously the guy behind Larry and his girlfriend didn't like the conversation, because they slammed shut the book they were reading and marched to another table.

Roger's face was red with embarrassment and mine was red with anger.

Well, thank you very much, Dr. Larry.


	4. Chapter 4

After crossing the next intersection, with Larry once again to be nearly run over by a car, I said to Roger. "Say, Roger you know what I was thinking? See if you like the idea."

"Sure. What is it?"

"Well, first of all, how long will you be here in the city?"

He looked forward and stuck his hands in his coat pockets. "A few days. Why?"

"I was thinking that we could all go with the rest of the Gang and go camping in the mountains."

"Sounds like an idea," said Larry.

"Sure. I love camping. Haven't done it in a long time. I'll be glad to join you guys!" he beamed.

Then Larry asked, "What kind of camping is it going to be? Because there's camping in RV's with A/C, Wi-Fi, and electrical equipment and running water. Then there's camping camping. With no gadgets, no phones, no video games, no bathroom, no showers, and you make your own food. And that one that the lassies won't enjoy."

Ignoring his stupid and chauvinist remarks, I said, "Camping as it really is. Hiking, fishing, telling stories by campfire light, cooking your own food, playing the guitar and singing with s'mores, sleeping bags, the stars as your roof and canoeing."

"So no phones, right?"

I shook my head. "Just me. I'll bring along a satellite phone in case of an emergency. But no smartphones." He nodded then stuck his hand into Roger's pocket. "Hey!" He ignored Roger's protesting and threw his phone at the street.

Only trouble was that it a delivery truck's windshield and cracked it. The truck stopped a few blocks later, then started quickly reversing. "Run for you lives!" Larry yelled. The three of us made a dash for it like there was no tomorrow. Larry got in the lead.

You know what the nut did? He took out four RPGs! That's right. Four. Two in each hand. He pointed them at me. "Hey, put those away!" I yelled while my arms and legs were still pumping.

"Stop acting like a darn fool and out those away!"

"Okay, okay!"

We kept running until the truck had lost us and were a few blocks away from the Palace. After catching our breath and with the sweat running down our faces, I said to Roger, "How…how would you like…to stay…over…for the night." I was almost without air. (I have a bad habit of doing that, don't I?)

"Sure. Sure."

We finally walked up the steps to the front doors. "I'll call my parents, of course."

"Sure, you do that. I've also got to call the others to see if they can all come. Then I'll call the park to make a reservation."

Roger suddenly had a puzzled expression. "Do you think you can make a reservation that fast?"

I laughed. "Roger. I am the King."

"Oh, yeah. It's just that…lookout, Spiny!"

Before I had a chance to even think Roger pushed me down on the ground. At that moment, Kathy came out the Palace with a ponytail. You won't believe what happened next. Right before my eyes, her ponytail was cut in half!

She jumped and stared looking in all direction. "Wha…what…huh…" she stammered. Roger jumped in the air with his hand open and closed it into a fist. When I got up to see what he had caught, my breath shortened.

It had the clear blade-like, aerodynamic shape of a ninja star. "Larry!"

He was staring as if nothing had happened. "Roger?"

"Kathy?" Roger said.

"Spiny?" Kathy said.

"Me-I mean…don't get me involved! It was Larry. He's throwing ninja stars."

Kathy groaned. "And I just finished making this beautiful hairstyle! It took me forever!"

Well, that was obviously an exaggeration, but I understood. Larry was crazy enough to drive anyone else crazy. I walked up to Kathy and put my arm around her. "Come on, sis. You know that this is Larry's way of expressing his love for us."

"I'd hate to see what his way of expressing hate is."

Believe me, I've seen that and it is not pleasant at all.

Anyways, we all stepped inside and walked to the living room. "Listen, Kathy. We were all thinking of making a camping trip and taking everyone. I can call right now to make the reservation and we can leave tomorrow. Roger's going to spend the night."

Kathy smiled. "Oh, cool. Sounds like fun."

"So, please tell Robert and Greeny. They have to pack by tonight but they can't bring phones, tablets, video games…"

At that moment Robert came in…carrying a shotgun?! I screamed and said, "What are you doing with that thing?"

"Oh, this? I found it in the Secret Arsenal."

"Put that thing back! It's loaded."

"It is?" Then he got an evil smile. ¬Uh-oh. He pointed towards the ceiling and pulled the trigger. POW! Fortunately, he didn't make a hole. But unfortunately for me, he struck a chandelier which I happened to be standing under and…

I don't think I have to explain what happened. The sound of crashing crash reverberated through my eardrums and I could see stars around my head. And bells. And birds and and mini-TIVs and I don't know what else. I couldn't stand to look.

It was also a shame that at moment, Larry got crazy again and started firing with a machine gun. We all ran for cover. But just as I was diving behind a chair, I felt a stinging sensation on my left cheek. It felt like a hot knife.

Roger, surprised by the whole thing also ran and accidently let go of the ninja star. And it managed to leave a cut on my left cheekbone. I mean, Larry's was going completely berserk! He was like Michael Jackson in his video "Smooth Criminal" the 9-minute version where he starts firing in all directions at the soldiers outside the nightclub.

Kathy crashed a vase on Larry's head and he fell to the floor. I took the chance to grab and unload the machine gun. Robert crawled out from under the coffee table. "See? See what can happen with a gun?"

"Yeah, but I'm not an idiot like Larry."

"I resent that remark!" Larry struggled to say as he got up.

I pulled Robert up by the hair and said, "Now you go put that thing back where it was, young man! I don't want to see anymore firearms near me.

Everyone must've been exposed to the Telepathy power. I say that because at that precise, exact moment Greeny came running out of the kitchen. With a minigun! "Greeny! Drop that right now!"

This was certainly not my day. He pointed it at me. I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst. Then I heard the sound of a bullet firing. All of the sudden I felt weak and my body went crazy.

I didn't dare open my eyes. I wouldn't be able to stand the sight of my loved ones' faces as I died in front of them. What would happen to them now? What would the world do when they found out? Who could take care of them? Would Robert be a good leader as I tried to be?

Just before breathing for the last time, I opened my eyes on instinct. Greeny's finger was not on the trigger. That was odd. Most guns only fire when you pull the trigger. But he hadn't. Then he did. And the end of the gun light up in colors and lights and bubbles came out.

Okay, I did exaggerate about the dying and all. But hey! When you see a gun and hear the sound of the bullet, it's only natural that…never mind. This is so embarrassing.

"That does it!" I grabbed Greeny's toy gun. "No more toys like this for anyone! We are going camping with our friends and that is that!"

Ugh…raising a family is…exhausting.


	5. Chapter 5

"So then it's confirmed, right?" I asked.

"Yes, sir. We now have your reservation at Anarotiémai National Park and Forest. You are in the Section K, Campground 5. The best one! Right next to the Dólios River and several excellent hiking trails. You just have to show ID and reservation number at the Ranger Station at the entrance."

"For a party of ten, right?"

"Yes, sir."

I opened the confirmation email and chose the option to print it. "Okay, thank you very much!"

"It's a pleasure, sir. We hope to see you tomorrow and make your stay unforgettable."

After hanging up, I grabbed the printed email and stuffed into the side pocket of my backpack. Then Larry came back from the bathroom. "So did you call?"

"Yep. And I called everyone and they're all coming. And here's the reservation ready."

Larry walked over to the speaker next to the door that lets me talk with all the room in the Palace. "All right, everyone! Start packing! We leave in two minutes!"

"Larry!" I grabbed the mic away from him. "We're not leaving until tomorrow morning."

"Oh, yeah." He spoke into the microphone again. "Never mind. We leave tomorrow. But start packing anyway." After I was done checking all my camping gear, Larry came over to me. "Hey, taste this."

"What?"

"Just taste it."

"How do I know that you won't try to poison me?"

"Because it never seems to work anyway."

"What?!"

"Just taste it. It's not poison."

I sighed and opened my mouth. Well, he was right. It wasn't poison. It was…FIRE. That idiot had made me taste Carolina Reaper. Which, in case you don't know, just so happens to be the hottest and spiciest pepper in the world!

My mouth went up into flames and my heart started palpitating. Sweat poured down my nose as my body temperature soared. I panicked. I ran down the stairs to the kitchen. I knew water wouldn't work, so I grabbed the jug of milk.

You wouldn't believe if I told you that I drank half of the gallon right there and there, right? Good, because I didn't. I drank the whole gallon. Panting, I placed the empty milk jug on the counter and saw Larry entering the kitchen.

"Why did you that?!"

He smiled. In that stupid, silly way. "Didn't you say that you wanted to taste it?"

"NO I DID NOT SAY THAT!" I turned on the water faucet to rinse out the milk jug. Then Greeny came in with a bunch of sticks in his arms. "I'm ready, Spiny."

"What's all that for? For the campfire?"

"No. It's for the marshmallows!" he said, a smile glowing on his face.

"Oh, yeah! That's right," I said playfully. Then I tickled him and he laughed in that cute way that I just love.

Then he took out a box of matches. "I also have this."

I immediately snatched it away from him. "What are you doing?! You should never, never, never, carry these around."

"But-but-but,"

"No buts. No go and finish packing. We have to go to bed early."

I sighed and stared at the box of matches. "You know, it's funny. I don't even let Robert or the girls carry these."

With no warning or reason, Larry snatched the box out of my hands. "What are you doing?!"

"I don't let you carry these around either."

"What? I'm responsible, in case you didn't know."

"Yes, but I know how to light these things."

"Yeah, but I know how to handle them once they're lit. Now give me that!" I grabbed onto the box and started pulling. But as you might expect, Larry's got a killer grip. He fought over it for a while. We both pulled without either side gaining an inch.

The box slid out of my hands and went flying and landed in the sink which was half-filled with water. I'd completely forgotten about that. I stood up and turned the faucet off. "Well, we can also try to make a fire the real way. Like the pioneers did."

"Yeah, you're right. It'll be more fun that way, anyway."

I emptied the milk jug and placed it in the recycling bin on the floor. A loud Thump! caught my attention. I looked in the hallway and saw Kathy going down the stairs with a huge suitcase. And I do mean huge. It was bigger than any suitcase I'd seen. It was almost like a trunk.

"Hey! How much stuff are you carrying with you anyway?" I yelled at her.

She didn't stop until she reached the end of the stairs. Panting, she said, "Just the stuff I'll need while in the woods."

"And just what might that be?" I said, walking down to her.

"Just stuff."

"Oh, really? Let's have a look then." She tried to prevent me from opening the trunk but I managed to. Well, what do we have here? Makeup, lipstick, nail polish, accessories, phone, iPad, emergency PSP, and even a laptop.

I grabbed all the "necessary stuff" and threw it out of the trunk. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I clearly said that we were going camping to get away from all technology. Now, please go and get a regular suitcase. We're going to the woods. We're not moving." She rolled her eyes and went back upstairs.

"So much for light traveling, right?" said Larry.

I was about to give him a response when I heard some commotion upstairs. I looked up just in time to see something big strike me. The stars reappeared around my head, this time a different color. My poor cranium felt like it had just exploded from all the beatings it had taken during the day.

"Oops. Sorry, Spiny," Roger said, flying down the stairs.

"Why are you carrying a log around?" Larry said.

Did he say a log? Roger dropped a log from that height?! "Roger Loski, may I ask what you are doing?"

"Me?" he said. "Well, uh, first of all, it's not a log."

"Then what is it, an oversized branch?"

He shook his head. "No. That's my backpack. It's shaped like a log."

"You mean it is your backpack, because it sure felt like log to me. What are you carrying in there anyway?"

I found the zipper and opened it, expecting to find more modern gadgets. He was carrying 12 different kinds of survival kits, and 6 first-aid kits. Well. At least it was something on a camping trip list.

"Roger, you don't have to bring so many of these. I've got plenty. I've got the first-aid kit, I'm CPR certified, and I've also got the mosquito spray."

"Yeah, here it is," Larry said taking something out of my pack. As expected, he sprayed it right into my eyes. Then, he went over to push Kathy's trunk out of the way and when he slid it against the wall, he grabbed something. "Hey, guess what else Kathy was trying to sneak away with?"

Before you could say "Te pille infraganti" Larry opened a small purple bottle of perfume and poured it all over me.

I looked up and thought Why? Why do these things happen to me? Just to me?

At that moment, my phone beeped, notifying me of a text message. It was Lilia. She was saying, "Meet me for our appointment at beauty parlor. Pedicure."

HUH?! Lilia had made an appointment? For a pedicure? For me? I mean, yes, men do care for they appearance but I doubt that a pedicure is high on the list. A manicure maybe, but a pedicure?!

I must've been staring because Larry said, "Did Lilia call to say that she wants to break up because of an athletic hunk?"

"Wha-no! It's about something else."

"What about?"

"I don't have to give you explanations. You're not my father." I turned to everyone else as they were bringing all their camping luggage down. "Okay, I have to go take care of something. Now please, nobody shoot, drop, or let anything loose."

As if on cue, Robert tripped over his untied shoelaces and a box of fishing gear he was carrying struck a trophy glass display and shattered it into a million pieces.

Sigh.

I got the heck out of there before their clumsiness would kill me. Seriously, I think I'm accident-prone. Anyways, I stepped outside and got in TIV. I'd parked it with the passenger seat facing the door, so I slid in the passenger side to slide over to the driver's seat.

But I couldn't.

Because Larry was already there! And what's worse, he had the keys and was holding the steering wheel.

Then he slammed his foot on the gas pedal and the tires screamed as smoke emanated from them. Well, this was definitely the end for me.


	6. Chapter 6

Never let an Eoraptor drive your vehicle. That's something you need to learn in writing. Not from experience. It's much worse than what it seems, believe me. You do not want an Eoraptor driving your car, and much less one that has no common sense.

Larry was doing some crazy tight turns. I was worried that one of those turns the TIV would literally go spinning out of control or something. Somehow, he managed to keep us stable. Well, as stable as you can get going at 60 miles per hours on sharp corners and sudden stops.

We over a bridge and as you can assume, Larry's handling of the road made us plunge front-end into the creek below. I stared at the waterline out the passenger window. "Well, this another fine mess you've gotten us into."

Almost immediately, several police cars appeared. They came out of nowhere and surrounded the bridge. Their sirens were blazing and the lights reflected on the water and the underside of the bridge. When they came to a stop, the deafening sirens were replaced by shouting officers.

"Here! It's over here!"

"Quick! Search for the King!"

"Clear the area! Set up roadblocks!"

"Bring the choppers and the paramedics!"

I climbed all the way to the back of TIV and opened the trunk door from the inside. "We're fine!"

"Are you okay, sir?" said a policeman who was already in the water.

"Yes, we're fine."

"What was it? An attack? A terrorist?"

"No, just some lunatic so-called friend who forcefully took over the wheel."

His face suddenly changed to one of Oh, is that all?! He didn't say it, but I know how to read expressions. "All right. Brink the chopper in. We need to get this thing back on the road."

I closed the door and pushed Larry out of the driver seat. "Let me handle this, okay?"

"That's sure to get us killed."

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing."

We heard the sound of the chopper's blades pounding on the ceiling. Then a metal clank. Pretty soon, we felt the sensation that you get when you start to go up an elevator. The waterline went down then disappeared from the windows. Water dripped and splashed from underneath us.

Our heads and jaws jarred when they dropped TIV back on the familiar, two-lane cement path. And just like that, all the choppers and the police cars disappeared. "Well, let's just get this whole thing over with."

We drove into the town of Neolaía. It's a suburb of Amarkia. I know I haven't mentioned it before, but it's where the school is and where Arnold's is also. It's the closes populated community to the Palace.

Anyways, we drove through some residential areas before reaching the small downtown area. After parking in front of the beauty parlor, Larry and I stepped inside. There was Lilia already being attended by the manicurist. Or should I say pedicurist?

She seemed surprised to see me. "Hi, Spiny. What are you doing here?"

"Well I got your message and, wait! Darla? What are you doing here?" She was also getting a pedicure. She also was stunned to see me. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. What are you doing here?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm waiting in line for my turn to face the firing squad."

"Really? What are you in for? They got me on federal theft," Larry answered.

"I'm getting a pedicure, that's what I'm doing!" Darla shouted.

"Oh, sorry. I just never thought you would ever come to a salon. I just thought that…"

"Listen, Spiny. One more word out of you and I'm going to break your nose!"

All right, all right! Geesh! Cool off, will you?

"Please, by all means. Go ahead and do it," said Larry. I glared at him. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," he replied.

"By the way," Lilia said. "What are you doing here?"

"I got your message a while ago," I explained.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "I haven't texted you all day."

What? Come on, don't give me that. I pulled out my phone and showed her my most recent text from her. "See? You told me to meet you here."

"Oh, I know! I sent that message to you by accident."

"What?"

"That was meant for Darla. When I realized I sent it to you, I just forwarded to her. I didn't think you'd…I mean I was sure you would…"

Nobody said anything. It was like a staring contest. Then Larry blurted out, "Well, apparently, Spiny is stupid enough to have believed it and not stop to think that she may have sent by mistake."

There's a time and place for everything. And here was not the time nor the place to try to beat the fool out of Larry.

"O-kay. In that case…I'll just slip out of here and we'll forget the whole thing." I crashed through the front door and we drove back home. By now it was late afternoon and we were bringing all the gear and stuff outside to pack it in TIV.

In the midst of it all, Robert came with the same fishing gear he'd brought before. "When'd you decide to take up fishing?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. It just hit me all of the sudden. Just something I'd like to try."

Behind him, Greeny was carrying bags of graham crackers, Hershey's, and marshmallows. He wasn't just carrying the marshmallows. He was helping himself from one of the bags. "Greeny, don't eat the marshmallows."

"Aw! Why not?"

"Because we won't have enough for when we want to make s'mores. Plus, I don't want you to get a stomachache that will ruin the whole trip."

I tell you, it was definitely not my day. Patty came out with her stuff. "Ooh! Marshmallows!" She grabbed two and started chewing them. "No, Patty! I was just telling Greeny that," Larry then interrupted by saying, "They're radioactive!"

You should've seen the expression on Patty's face. Man, it was priceless! It was so funny! I had to bite my tongue, but some stifles did escape. "It's okay, cuz. They're not radioactive. I just want there to be enough for the trip."

"Ohh!" She glared at Larry then placed her bag in the trunk. When they had all left, I turned to Larry and said. "For once in your life, will you please not do, act, or say anything stupid or sarcastic? Can you just stop it? Even if it's just for five minutes? Please?"

He rolled his eyeballs and sighed in frustration. "Oh, fine." But when he sighed, the metal on the front end of TIV started corroding. "Ahh! What's that?"

"What's-oh, oops."

"What do you mean 'oops'?"

"I think I accidently had my Acid Breath Power on." I quickly whirled around in all directions. We dodged a bullet. A really close one. There was no one outside. Phew! "Larry! Try to have a little self-control, will you? What if someone had seen us?"

"That's no problem. I'd just knocked them out with either gas or the Forgetit Stick. Then I repair it, make them lose memory of the incident, and wake them back up. It's that simple."

"Still. Please try to cultivate self-control."

I heard a motor revving. I looked around again. There were no vehicles except the TIV. And I had the keys with me. "Are you doing that, Larry?"

"What? No, I'm not! You need to cultivate trust in other people, if you ask me. Stop trying to pin everything suspicious on me!" He tilted his ear to listen. "Yeah, I hear it too. But it sounds too small for it to be a car and too big for a motorcycle."

He looked and pointed to a hill next to the Palace. "Look!"

It was about a mile away and I saw a figure on a four-wheeler. "Roger Loski! What are you doing up there?!"

"What?"

"I said what are you doing up there?"

"Passing time!" He started some wheelies and roared down the hill towards the driveway. On the last bump, he made a 360-wheelie. Or as commonly known a back-flip. He stopped next to TIV. He jumped off and walked up to us. His hair was a complete mess and his clothes and his face were covered in mud and clay.

"Why were you playing with the four-wheeler?"

"Ah-why are you talking to me that way?"

I groaned. I've had enough of this day. "Never mind. We're done packing. The others are going to meet us here tomorrow early and we'll pack their stuff then. Right now we need to go inside and rest for tomorrow."

"Now that sounds very appealing," Larry mentioned running like greased lightning back inside. Roger and I just shrugged and exchanged glances. We had a nice dinner that evening and went up to our rooms to rest.

We went to bed early. It wasn't even 9:45 when Roger, Larry and I were in our room. Larry was in his bed and Roger bunked in with me. Remember, I have the actual King's bed. So it's pretty huge. While Roger was brushing his teeth, Lilia called me. Mostly just to apologize for whatever embarrassment she caused and that she hoped to have fun on the trip.

"Sure we'll have a great time!" I said. "Plus, it'll be a great way for us to make up."

"Oh, Spiny, please!"

I just laughed and was sure to hear her giggling. "Well, I'm going to catch my my ten hours of sleep. I'll see you tomorrow at 8:30, okay?"

"Okay. I'll be there. I love you. Sweet dreams."

Just then, Roger came out of the bathroom. "Love you, too, princess. Sleep well. Bye-bye." I made a kissing sound then hung up. Roger was just staring. "What? Don't you call Darla?"

"Yeah, but we're not as, um, affectionate as you two."

"You mean mushy?" said Larry.

"Goodnight!" I shouted and turned out the lights.

I had set my alarm for 6 in the morning. But Larry had other plans. He trumpeted a bugle and roared, "Everyone up! UP! UP! UP! UP! Get out of those beds! Come on, you lazybones! Get off your duff!"

I groaned and felt my breath hissing. Just preparing for the trip was a nightmare. What's the actual trip and the camping going to be like?

Oh, boy…..


	7. Chapter 7

After breakfast, Darla, Lilia, Rudy, and Dimetroodon were dropped off by their parents at the front of the Palace. We packed up their stuff, and then finished getting ready. With our stomachs and the luggage full, we buckled up.

I sat at the driver's seat and looked in the rearview mirror. "Everyone ready?"

When everyone said yes, I turned on the ignition. But before I could press my foot on the gas pedal, Larry shouted, "Wait!"

"What is it?"

He pointed at the fuel gauge on the odometer. The red needle was on the letter E and the light was flashing. "Huh? What the heck? It can't be empty!"

"Well it is."

"But I just filled it last night for the trip. I filled it."

Then Larry said, "It must've all gone when I…uh, never mind."

I glared at him. "When you did what?"

"Nothing, nothing."

Yeah, I'm not buying that. "Larry? What did you do with the all the algae gas?"

He laughed nervously and tittered. "I, uh, sat here last night. I listened to the radio and I guess I fell asleep."

"You did WHAT?!" I face-palmed myself and groaned. "Oh, Larry. Larry, Larry, Larry. Don't you know that you can listen to the radio without turning the music on?"

"But it was hot!"

"You can also turn the A/C without starting the engine, you jerk!"

"You see? I didn't know that. I did it out of ignorance, not maliciously. Let's just go to the nearest service station and fill 'er up." I shook my head, just staring. How was it possible that someone could be so intelligent when it came to science, medicine, and powers, but so stupid to life itself?

I had no choice but to live with this kind of thing. Day in and day out. We drove out of the Royal Grounds in the direction of the Interstate. There was a service station just before the on-ramp. I pulled in an empty pump.

"Okay. I'll go pay and you fill it," said Larry. I guess he was trying to make up. Under other circumstances I would've probably ruined it all by saying something sarcastic. But since he was being sincere and a good friend for once, I decided to just go along with it.

"Okay. And do me a favor. See if there are clean restrooms so we can all make the final pit stop so we won't have to later on the road."

"Sure." He got off and ran inside while I placed the nozzle in the tank while I waited. I had a thought then poked my head through the driver's window. "Does anybody need to use the restroom?"

Everyone shook their heads, but Rudy said, "Somebody is in the bathroom. Greeny just got off."

He was right. Greeny's booster seat was empty. "Oh, okay. You know what? Everybody get off! Everyone's going to the restroom. I don't want to have to stop anywhere else from here to the campground."

"But-but-but," said Dimetroodon.

"Don't argue. Everyone get down."

"But that's why I brought these empty bottles," said Robert, holding a bag with empty water bottles. "And I also brought some funnels for the ladies." Well, he really crossed the line that time. Not only did I yell at him, "ROBERT SIMPSON KYVERNÁ!" He also got elbowed by Kathy and Patty who were sitting on either side.

I grabbed him by the ear and pulled him out of the TIV. "Go to the restroom!"

"But somebody is already there!"

Greeny came running from the gas station store. And I mean, running. He had a look of disgust on his face. "What's wrong?"

"I can't go."

"Why not?"

"Because he was saying a lot of gross things. He was saying that his…"

"OKAY! You don't have to tell us." Larry came bursting out of the store. "Do me a favor. Never get too close to a one-bathroom door. Not only will you hear unpleasant sounds, you will also hear even more unpleasant phrases."

Just the thought made me nauseous. I wasn't about to get sick and ruin the whole trip. "All right. We're going to next gas station. But when we do, everyone's getting off." We all buckled up and go onto the freeway.

It was about fifteen minutes later, while I was driving just beautifully if I do say so myself through the southern end of Sauropolis and its suburbs, when I suddenly felt a cold and wet sensation on the back of my neck.

I yelped. "Ah! What was that?"

"What was what?" said Larry, taking the earbuds from his iPod out of his ears.

"Somebody…" I looked behind. "All right? Who was the wise-guy who threw the spitball at me?"

"It's not 'threw a spitball'" Greeny stated. "It's 'spit the spitball.'"

Thanks for the grammar lesson. "Whatever. Who spit the spitball?"

Cricket….cricket…cricket…

"Spiny, watch out!" Larry shouted. My eyes darted back to the road just in time to see the huge, horned buck go flying to the other side of the road. I glared at everyone through the rearview mirror. "There, you see? Whoever spit the spitball made me kill a deer. If you keep on…"

"And a rabbit," said Larry.

I looked at him in confusion. "Say what?"

"While you were yelling at everyone in the rearview mirror, you ran over a rabbit. You didn't even notice." Larry looked in the side mirror out the window. "Yep. Rabbit's still there. Or what's left of it after being run over a 7-ton, 10-wheel tank."

Frustration doesn't even begin to describe what I was feeling at that moment. I swerved towards the right and pulled off on the side of the road. As if all that wasn't bad enough, while I was stopping, an owl crashed into the windshield and…you guessed it. Died.

I groaned and looked at everyone. "Okay, for the last time…who threw the spitball?"

No one said anything. Just 8 pairs of staring, unblinking eyes. "Okay, okay. You guys want to play funny? That's fine with me. I'll play along. What about this? The next time anyone does something immature, I'm going to turn this thing around and…"

While I was talking, I felt the sensation that the TIV was moving. That's impossible. You're pulled on the side of the road and you have the brake on. Wait…Larry! What's he…oh, no! The idiot is controlling the TIV with his Technopathy power!

Just an FYI. Technopathy is the ability to control technology with your mind.

Using Telepathy or Mind Communication, I said, "Larry, what are you doing? You're going to reveal the powers!"

"What powers?" he answered.

"What?! Stop doing that!"

As you can surmise, he ignored me completely, and raised his finer, returning TIV to the freeway. This was a critical situation. If any of my friends found out about the powers…never mind. I don't like to think of that.

I had to take drastic action, so I yelled out loud, "Will you please stop that?!"

He lowered his hand and I grabbed onto the steering wheel. "From now on, will you please let me drive it manually?"

I was just starting to feel relieved that no one had noticed what Larry had done when Darla made my heart stop beating when she said, "How did you just do that, Larry?"

My mouth went dry and my stomach turned inside out. "Uhhhhhh…"

"Do what?" Larry said with the same tone of nervousness.

"Control the TIV without driving. How did you do that?"

Come on, Larry! Say something quick! "Uh…well, you see…yeah. Um, all of our vehicles have an emergency system that allows you to control it with gestures." Nice going, Larry!

"Yeah, that's right."

"For example, when Spiny's nagging and not paying attention to the road…"

Wait, what?! "Nagging? I wouldn't be nagging if people in this tank would stop making childish, silly pranks!" I stopped…again. "All right, you know what? Larry, get in the back. Lilia, you come up front of me."

Telepathically, Larry said, "Don't make me teleport!"

I threw daggers at him and said, "You wouldn't!"

He returned the glare. I wasn't about to let something else happen so I decided to avoid any more conflict. "Okay. Larry, would you be kind enough to sit in the back so that my dear girlfriend can sit up here with me?"

"Okay." Larry and Lilia both unbuckled and opened their doors. As Lilia was getting into the passenger seat, Larry showed her the way with his hand and said, "Madam?"

"It's mademoiselle, you fool. Madam is only for married women," Kathy said.

"Oh. In that case, Mamy Swell, get in there!" he said, whipping his tail at her.

"Hey, stop that!" she yelled at him.

Larry jumped in next to Dimetroodon. Being the nerd in the group, he sat next to the computer monitors that were connected to the radar on top of TIV. Once they were both ready, I pressed my foot on the gas pedal and resumed our trip. Great! Now thanks to his antics we're now a half hour behind schedule. Make the best of it. Now you've got the most beautiful girl next to you.

I placed my hand on Lilia's and held it softly. She looked at me and smiled. She held up my hand to her mouth and I felt the soft touch of her lips on it. It sent pleasant shivers all the way up my arm and down my back.

And guess who ruined the moment?

Yep. Mr. Half-Stepper. Mr. Never-Knows-How-To-Apologize. Mr. Lerk-Jerk. Larry.

You see, he was saying to Dimetroodon, "How's it going, man?"

"Great, Larry, and you?"

Then Larry poked Dimetroodon in the ribs. You know, in a playful, brotherly way. Well, that was bad. Do you know what happened when he poked Dimetroodon?

PFFFTTT!

"Open a window!"

"Yech, that's gross!"

"Open a window!"

"No, open the doors!"

"Spiny, the windows are locked!" Roger yelled. Oops.

"Oh, sorry. There. Now they're unlocked!" All windows went down, and out went the toxic fumes that were burning our respiratory systems along with coughing heads. "Okay, from now on, Dimetroodon is off-limits. No one touch him!" I ordered.

"Sorry. Must've been what I had for breakfast," Dimetroodon said.

"Please don't say what it was," said Rudy.

"Two toasted breads covered in mayonnaise and banana."

Everyone in TIV replied by saying, "Eww!" or "Gross!" or like Darla, who said, "Dimetroodon, you're a pig!"

At that moment, I happened to be looking at Lilia, when…another spitball. This time I saw who had done it. In my peripheral vision. "Robert!"

"Uh…yes, dear brother?" he said in a clearly guilty voice. Never mind the fact that he was trying to be cute and all.

"Do that again and you'll be mowing the entire lawn for the next two weeks!"

"With or without allowance?"

"No comment!"

Can you believe that nerve of that guy?! Asking for allowance! I couldn't believe we had the same blood running through our veins.

Anyways, just at that moment, I caught the scent of food. It smelled like meat, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. "Hey, what smells so great?" I said.

"Oh, it's these tacos I brought," Rudy answered.

"You brought tacos?" Patty asked.

"Yeah, before the trip. So we wouldn't have to stop anywhere in case we got hungry. I bought 40 of them." Rudy handed Lilia a bag with three tacos. "Here, this is for Spiny." Lilia set it down in my lap.

"Thanks, cuz," I said to Rudy.

"Sure." While he was handing out tacos to everyone, Roger said, "Did you bring something to drink?"

"Yeah, I brought beer."

I started choking on the tacos and the lettuce got lodged in my throat. Lilia slapped me a few times in the back to help me. "You brought WHAT?!"

"Just kidding. Nah, I brought some nice, warm, wine."

"You brought wine?"

"Yeah, for stomach problems. Or cravings."

"What do you mean cravings?" Lilia asked.

"Rudy, that's irresponsible!" I said in an authoritive tone.

"What do you mean irresponsible?" Greeny asked. "Look at Larry."

Mr. Role-Model was drinking something. I couldn't tell what it was, because it was inside a paper bag. But something told me it wasn't a Pepsi. "Larry!" He looked up at me, and then took what he was drinking out the bag.

It was a Pepsi.

I was really starting to get irked. I said to Lilia, "You see, baby? See what I have to deal with?" Before any of us could say, I heard a loud BANG! right next to my ear. I screamed and my hands flew in both directions on the steering wheel.

The TIV started screeching and we were heading at full speed towards a metal post.


	8. Chapter 8

I managed to stop an inch just before getting us killed. "What…what happened?"

"Larry filled the paper bag with air then popped it next to your air," Darla said.

"Tattletale!" Larry said.

I was in no mood to yell anymore so I just got back on the road. We had now crossed the city and were now in the rural regions. The view changed from suburbs to forest and the mountains were now visible in the distance.

It was our rotten luck that Lilia started getting a sneezing attack. She'd gotten it before, for various reasons. I sure hoped it wasn't pollen from trees, because we would be living amongst that for the next day or two.

"You all right, love?" I asked her, patting her on the shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think it's from being in an enclosed space for so long. Could I open a window?"

"Sure. Go ahead." She rolled the window down and I felt a fresh breeze of forest air. I closed my eyes and let the wind caress my face and run through my hair. When I opened my eyes, there in front of me, was a two-inch, blood-red wasp.

I have spheksophobia. Phobia of wasps. I am TERRIFIED of them. I simply am. I don't care if you make fun of me. I am scared of wasps.

So it was perfectly natural for me to react the way I did. I screamed at the top of my lungs and we started spinning on the road. The wasp landed on my forehead and started walking around. Larry got a fly swatter and made a smack at it. He missed of course, and left a huge, red mark on my forehead.

The wasp was still in there, so Mr. Idiot-of-the-World sprayed bug spray…right in my eyes, of course. My eyes got red and it felt like I'd just gotten lime juice in them. Larry got in my lap and regained control of TIV, the tires screaming.

We stopped next to a sign and I opened my eyes. "Is…is the wasp gone?" I looked at everyone. You should've seen their faces. Everyone's hair was a mess, their eyes were the size of UFOs, and their jaws were inches from the floor.

"All right. The next time Larry does something stupid, we are all going back!" Everyone stared murderously at Larry. He was stuffing his face with tacos and had spicy sauce all over his jaws.

Completely ignoring everyone's stares, Larry pointed at the sign. "Look. We're thirty minutes away from the campgrounds."

Well, at least we were getting somewhere.

At the next exit, I pulled off to the gas station for the restroom break that we had to miss behind. After going, I sat in TIV while everyone else took care of what they needed to take care of.

When Rudy came back, he said, "Ahh! Much better now that I've emptied my bladder."

"Rudy! Do you always have to be so darn descriptive?" I said.

"What? It's a natural process, isn't it?"

"Please, just sit down."

He went to his seat and grabbed another taco from the bag. Robert and Greeny came out….with armloads of candy. "Hey, hey, h-h-hey!" I said. "And just what is that you have in your arms?"

"Bags," Robert said.

"Bags of what?"

"Candy. We knew you weren't going to bring any so we bought some."

I was exhausted just from the driving trip and wasn't in the mood to argue. I just sighed and shook my head. I was about to climb back in, when Rudy started screaming in pain.

"What's wrong?"

He pointed to his mouth. A case of spice overdose. That's what you get for using the hottest sauce. I only use the mildest one. Of course, I didn't say that. I grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to him.

He gulped the entire thing in twenty seconds. He dropped the bottle and was still pointing at his mouth. "Still hot! Still hot!"

By this time, Darla had gotten out and saw what was happening. She handed Rudy a bottle of milk. "Here, this might help."

Rudy devoured the milk. He must've used Carolina Reaper sauce, because his mouth was still burning. "I need…something…cool…and….refreshing."

Hmm. This was getting suspicious. I mean, milk definitely cures a spicy tongue. I knew Rudy pretty well, so I knew something was up. "Listen, you're not getting free soda on my account."

"But you will on mine," said Larry, bringing a can of soda. Rudy ripped the top off and gulped it down all. "Thanks, Larry. You're a life-saver." He wiped his mouth and tossed the can into the recycling bin next to the station's store.

"Where'd you get the soda?" said Robert. Larry opened the door for the passenger seat and pulled a latch under his seat. A small door on the floor popped open. Inside, was a small fridge with every kind of soda imaginable.

"Hey, pretty cool!" Larry started distributing the sodas amongst all the guys. Well, excuse me! Apparently I was the bad guy now. Only the girls seemed to be even making eye contact with me.

And Greeny.

Back on the road, he said, "Are we there yet?"

"We'll be there in five minutes," I said.

"Why so long?" he protested.

It was now mid-afternoon. Good grief! This trip was supposed to be an hour long or so. But if you add all the "incidents" that had occurred that adds a lot of time.

We arrived at the park entrance. I parked next to the window and the park ranger stepped out. "Good afternoon, sir. Glad to see you here."

"Thank you." I handed him the reservation number and my ID. After verifying that it was not fake, he handed both back to me. "Okay, checks out. Have a great time during your stay here."

"Thank you. We'll sure try."

He opened the gate for us and we passed on through. I handed the park map to Lilia. "Take a look, will you? Maybe there's something we can see today before it gets dark. Also, we can some ideas for what to do tomorrow."

"Sure thing."

I can definitely say that this was not my day. The minute I turned back to the road, I heard the sound of sirens and red and blue lights flashed behind us. "Uh-oh. Looks like you got nailed, Spiny," said Kathy.

"Will you please reserve sarcasm until after the camping trip?" I said. I pulled over and stopped. I began to think of what I could've done wrong. The brake lights were working. I wasn't speeding. I definitely wasn't drinking. Then what?

The officer knocked on my window. I rolled it down. "Hello, officer," I said.

"Ah, hello there, King Spiny."

"What's the trouble? I wasn't speeding or anything."

"Yes, but aren't wearing your seat belt."

HUH? What? I looked down and…oops. I felt the blood rising to my face. "I…I…I…listen. I've had a terrible day. I've been surrounded by idiots and made my lose good judgement."

"I'm really ashamed of you, you know. You should know the rules of the road!" He started writing out citations.

"What? You think I did it on purpose?"

"Jail or bail?"

"Excuse me?" He was threatening me with jail time?! Oh, for crying in the bucket! That's the last thing I needed. "All right. How much is it?"

"Regular fine is $200. But for you, it's $2,000."

"WHAT?!" Everyone inside tensed up. "Why should I get a higher fine?"

"Jail or bail? I'm not asking again. Next time, I'll have to place you under arrest for resisting an officer."

Well, too bad for him. I wasn't going to pay a higher fine. If the law said that the fine was $200, then that's what I would pay. I grabbed my wallet and got out two $100 dollar bills. "That's all I'm paying. And if you're not happy, we can sit down and have a nice chat with my attorney or the Amarkian Supreme Court. Would you like that?"

He took the money and handed me a receipt. "Have a good day, sir."

Ha! In your face, sucker. The nerve of these people. The bad influence of America and its culture. These people have got to learn to respect me.

In any event, we reached our campground a few minutes later. Ah! Finally! I pulled to a stop in the parking place, next to the outhouse. Funny place to park, actually.

"We're here! Everybody off and enjoy nature!"

"Yeah, let's get messy, make mistakes, and…"

"LARRY!" everyone shouted.

I got out the tents while everyone else started unpacking their gear. Darla and Roger started working on the girls' tent while I started hammering the nail for the boys' tent. Greeny started to run into the woods. "Hey, get back here, young man!" I yelled.

"But I want to explore!" he said.

"But you can't go alone. Roger, when you're done with Darla, can you take Greeny for a small walk? But don't go too far."

"Sure."

Larry walked over to me, with some weird gadget. "What's that?" said Robert.

"Just my secret weapon in having a good night at camping." He placed the tent over the line I'd set up. He pushed a button and the entire tent set up by itself.

So much for getting away from technology. "Aw, come on, Larry! I like doing things the old-fashioned way."

He grabbed the hammer and analyzed it. "Hmm. Very interesting."

"Ow!" Then, he bonked me on the head with the hammer. For no reason! Ugh. This was going to be a long camping trip.


	9. Chapter 9

"But why can't I go alone?" Greeny asked.

"Because you can't, okay?" I replied. "It's too dangerous for a little boy to be wandering out there alone in the woods."

"Yeah, you might get eaten by a monster," Larry said.

"A…a monster?" Greeny replied, his voice quivering.

"Larry!" I started to say.

Completely ignoring the fact that I was present and alive, Larry said, "Oh, yeah. The woods are filled with monsters. There's also zombies that come up from underneath the outhouse and will eat you if you have diarrhea."

"Larry, please!"

He continued, "And there are lots of evil trolls in the caves."

Greeny cried and went running inside the tent. I crossed my arms and glared at Larry. "Are you happy?"

"About what?"

"Why did you tell all those lies to Greeny?"

"They weren't lies. It was the truth."

"Ugh. Look, there are no monsters around here. The only monster around here is you!"

He sneered. "We're all monsters at one point or another, Spiny." I should've been watching out for a trick. The brickhead took out a huge buzz saw and aimed it at my head!

"Ah! Larry, what's gotten into you?!"

He went absolutely crazy. He swung back and lunged the saw toward my head. I escaped decapitation by just inches. I'm sorry to say that Lilia's cap didn't. She was behind me and when I ducked, the saw cut her cap right in half, plus a few hairs.

"Larry!" she shouted.

Just then, the buzz saw went flying out of Larry's hands. Lilia made a run for it to the tent, while we had a freak saw jumping around the ground. "Larry, stop controlling that thing!"

"What do you mean? You stop it!"

"Me? I'm not doing anything!"

I heard a gunshot, and the saw came to a halt just before destroying the boys' tent. Rudy was standing there with a shotgun, smoke coming out the end. "Not exactly what I had in mind when I thought about going hunting. There's not that many freak buzz saws that have a mind of their own."

Robert came with his fishing gear. "What was all the noise about?"

"It…never mind. I'll tell you when we get back home. If I talk about it now, I'm going to have nightmares of giant saws chasing me."

He looked puzzled, then just shrugged. He took out his bait and his fishing pool and started messing around with the hook. "Well, I want to get used to this and see how I can catch the best fish."

"Hmm. Now that I remember, I also want to try out something," said Larry. He went to his pack and pulled out…a harpoon?! "Why did you bring a harpoon?" Dimetroodon, asked, just as shocked as I was.

"I want to see if I can get an octopus," Larry replied.

"Larry, I hate to break it to you, but there are no octopuses in the lake or in the river. They don't live in freshwater."

"Yes, there are!" Larry said. "Believe it or not, there have also been sighting of electric eels here."

"Electric eels?" said Dimetroodon, not fully convinced. "You can't be serious."

"Would that I didn't. Twelve people have been killed by electric eels in this area. Check the public records. It's there in black and white."

"Well, I don't care. I'd feel much better if you put that thing away. It makes me nervous that someone as clumsy and smart-aleck like you is holding a weapon like that," I said.

Patty came over to me with a worried expression. "Spiny, I just heard Larry say something about electric eels. Is it true?"

Usually, I'd say that she shouldn't believe anything that Larry says. But if it would concern the safety of my family and friends, I didn't want to take any chances. "Yeah, he said some people have died. So that means that nobody goes swimming without the whole group."

"You hear that?" Larry said in a loud voice, grabbing everyone's attention. "Anyone who goes into the water alone or without permission will be shot down!"

"Larry," I said.

"Yes?"

"Shut up," I said plainly.

Sometimes I wonder if Larry really is as dumb as he looks or if he's really trying to kill me. I say that because he shot the harpoon at me. I managed to duck, but his aim was a little off and he struck a branch on one of the pines. Then the branch fell off and I happened to be standing underneath it.

You want advice for your next camping trip? If your best friend is as stupid, clumsy, and smart-aleck as Larry, always wear an army helmet and medieval armor at all times. It's the only way you will prevent risk of injury.

No, I'm serious. Before you leave, make sure there is no harpoon, saw, or shotgun in their stuff.

Well, to say the least we finished getting our gear out and setting up camp. We were all pretty tired so we decided to go to sleep right away. As you can already figure out, I didn't get a wink.

Dimetroodon's snoring reminded me of an old truck whose engine had just went kaput! Half of the night, I had Rudy's elbow in my ribs and the other half I had Roger's foot in my face! Robert slapped me a few times in my sleep which obviously would prevent anyone from falling asleep.

Larry was the worst, of course. Not only did he snore, but he also wheezed, whimpered, grunted, twitched his eyelids, pawed at the air, and made a whole orchestra of noises and movement.

I tossed and turned for hours. I tried listening to music. The battery went dead on me. I tried imaging a sandy beach, but it didn't work either. Huge monster-like versions of Larry came up to torment me.

It seemed as though everyone was intent on not letting me get a goodnight's rest, so I saw no point in staying there. I crawled out of my sleeping bag. I got my sneakers on. I'd thought I'd take a small walk around the woods. Maybe that would help me clear the mind and concentrate on sleeping. Sounds silly, but it's true.

I crawled out of the tent and slipped into my sweater. I was bending down to tie my shoelaces, when I saw the flap of the other tent moving. "Spiny?"

I looked up and saw my girlfriend in her pajamas. She was wearing some small pink shorts and a matching spaghetti-strap top. She'd pulled her into a long ponytail and was hanging over her left shoulder.

Okay, okay. Stop admiring and try not to drool. This isn't the time or place. I cleared my throat and said, "Oh, hi. Sorry if I woke you."

She stepped out and bathed herself in the silver beams of the moon. The radiance of her beauty entranced me and nearly stopped all my mental and physical functions. Then she smiled and the light reflected off her virgin-snow white pearls.

"That's okay. I wasn't that sleepy anyway. I guess I'm too excited about the whole trip."

I nodded. "Oh. I couldn't sleep either. It's hard to go that with an orchestra going on in your tent."

She giggled and walked up to me. She put her hands on my shoulders and our noses touched. "Too bad we can't have a place just for the two of us," she whispered, so softly it was barely audible over the noise of the nocturnal animals, the nightly breeze, or the distant sound of the river.

I kissed her passionately yet tenderly and felt the electrifying touch of her hands running through my hair and rubbing over my back. I felt a fire starting in my heart and it was burning me from the inside out.

"You know, we can? Have a place for just us, I mean," I said.

"Really?" she said.

I smiled and took her hand and started walking towards the woods, the silver circle in the sky lighting our way. I followed the quite rush of water and kept walking until we reached the river.

The river became a lagoon and the snow-covered mountains on the other side contemplated our presence, watching over us.

"It's beautiful," Lilia whispered.

I placed my arm around her waist and pressed my cheek against hers. "Yes, it is."

The dark blue sky was littered with millions of stars, which proved to be nothing more than the breathtaking ceiling of this huge room that nature had just given us to enjoy. Then I saw those same stars in Lilia's eyes.

The hand met the cheek, and so did our lips. Our hearts came together as one and our souls silently said what we didn't need to repeat: that our love would be eternal, pure, chaste, and everlasting like the embers that got drifted by the wind and didn't lose their heat.

We spent most of the night there, in each other's arms, mesmerized by the unbelievable wonders that surrounded us. It was all ours now. Ours to enjoy and share with our loved ones. Just before we returned back to camp, about an hour or so before dawn, I saw a young tree on the far side of the river suddenly get crushed down by what seemed to be a small pile of boulders.

That should've been our warning sign.

But we went on, as if it were nature going around as usual.

Our ignorance was bliss that the moment.

That pretty soon, in the next several days, we would lose one of our own.


	10. Chapter 10

I tried not to disturb any of the guys as I stepped outside the tent. Ah! Nothing like greeting the fresh, mountain breeze in the soothing touch of the sun's dawning rays. It was an extraordinary feeling.

I stretched and started doing some exercise. The regular, you know? Rotated my arms, my hands, twisted my body, and ran in place for five minutes. Afterwards, I was after getting my hiking clothes on and packing my bag, Larry came out with a cap. "Morning, Spiny."

"Morning, Larry. How did you sleep?"

"I didn't get a wink of sleep. Those guys just make too much noise, right?"

Well, you're no sleeping beauty, yourself. "Yeah, I guess so. Are the guys almost up?"

"Uh, no not yet. I'll get them up."

Afterwards, we all got up and ate breakfast, which were scrambled eggs I made over the campfire and some rabbit meat I'd hunted earlier in the morning. Yes, I have a hunting license and I only hunt for food, not for sport.

Hunting for sport is a major felony in Amarkia and can be punishable with more than 150 years in prison. Anyways, once breakfast was finished, Darla said, "So, Spiny, what do you have planned for today?"

Everyone gathered into a group around me. I clasped my hands together. "I know the perfect morning activity we can do after a pioneer-style breakfast. How about fishing?"

Greeny cheered and jumped in the air. "Yay! Fishing. I'll get to hold the worms!"

"Greeny, please!" Kathy said, disgusted.

"Well, let's go then! I'm ready!" Robert said, his box and fishing pole already over his shoulder. We grabbed our stuff and after properly putting the fire out, we left the camp and I lead the way to the river.

I'd spent lots of time before in this national park, so I knew the whole place almost by memory. We reached it pretty soon and we all settled down near the banks of the river. Dimetroodon took the fishing line in his mouth, since he's four-legged and can't…well, you know.

But the thing is that I had my back turned and was bending over to get some things out of the box with the bait, the hooks, and all that stuff. All of the sudden, I felt something sharp and cold hit me in the lower back.

Dimetroodon yelled, "Here goes the first catch of the day!" Then I felt something pull at my underwear and …RIP! I suddenly felt a cold rush of air. I looked down and….AAAHHH! Larry popped up and covered me with a towel. "Thanks."

"Hey, I got something!" Dimetroodon yelled. "I got…these shorts? Who'd would leave underwear in the river?"

"Maybe a couple sneaked down to go skinny-dipping together and returned to their tent without clothes," said Robert.

"ROBERT!" Patty scolded him.

"Those are mine!" I yelled at Dimetroodon.

"Uh…these horrible wet things?"

"GIVE THEM!"

"Okay, okay. Chill, dude!" He swung the fishing pole over to me and I grabbed my…ugh. Never mind. I left and took care of the problem then returned. Darla and Lilia had also cast their lines. Patty was helping Greeny while Kathy was sitting back, taking pictures with her old camera.

I sat a few feet next to Robert, right beside Lilia. "Hey, Spiny!" Larry yelled.

"Yeah, what is it?" I said.

"Can you hand me that cup of worms next to you? The one next to the thermos bottle!"

"Sure," I replied. I grabbed the box of bait and walked over to hand it to him.

I don't know what everyone's problem with me is! Do I have a natural gift for attracting trouble? No, I didn't get my pants ripped off again. Robert swung back the fishing line and the hook…well, let's put it this way. My eyeball was in the way.

"Ye-OW! Robert, why don't you watch it!"

"What? Oh, sorry! I meant to hit both eyes."

"WHAT?"

"Nothing, nothing!"

Ugh.

I returned next to my girlfriend and cast in my line. I waited….and waited…and waited…and waited…and WAITED. Good grief! Did fish even swim anymore? I was just about to give up when I felt something pulling the line. "Hey, I think I got something!" I yelled.

"Hey, I've got something, too!" Larry yelled.

"So do I," said Rudy.

"Holy cow! We stumbled upon the Fish Community Center!" said Dimetroodon.

We all pulled and reeled our lines in. Boy, did we fall upon some great luck! I pulled out a beautiful foot-long trout. Robert got a salmon, while Rudy pulled in a small bass. Some fish community center this was!

"Ohhh, hang on!" Larry shouted. I'm not kidding; he started sliding towards the river. I handed my line to Lilia and Roger and I grabbed Larry and pulled back. He pulled out a monstrosity!

A giant, glossy, two-foot bass. "Whoa! Ain't she a beauty?" Larry held up the fish for all to see. I should've been jealous, yes. But sincerely, he'd done it real cool. "Well, I have to hand it to you, Larry. You've finally achieved something great by sticking to the job and not playing or clowning around. I have to thank you."

He let the bass slip out of his fingers and it slapped me in the face. "Or not." I need to learn to not speak too soon.

"Well…at least I got a nice fish for when we cook up dinner."

Darla returned with her fishing gear. "I think the fish have decided to move City Hall to another location. In the meantime, let's put the fish away in the box and go do some other great activity."

She picked up the green box where we'd all stored the fish and placed her catch in there. Not two seconds had passed when Larry pulled his line back and the hook caught onto the box.

And that's the last of our long waits and hard work to get a true camp-like dinner. "Hey, what was that big green I just saw on my fishing line?" said Larry, oblivious of the whole thing.

"That was our dinner, you jerk!" Kathy yelled.

Larry reeled it in, and pulled out the box. "Well, at least it's closed," said Roger.

I opened the box and water dripped out of it. Water and nothing else. "Well, I guess we can get more in the evening shift," said Lilia.

"Well, we can do something else. What do you think, Spiny? Shall we go hiking, hunting, climb a mountain, photograph wildlife?" Patty asked.

Then it hit me. I snapped my fingers. "Aha! I know. Canoeing. Let's go canoeing!"

We brought out the canoe from the trunk of TIV and placed it on the river bank. It was a special one I'd ordered about...what was it? I think it was 530 years ago. It was long and narrow, but wide enough for everyone to be comfortable in it.

After we'd all slipped into our safety vests and I checked the canoe, we hopped on board and sailed into the river, with Rudy at the oars. The misty from the river kissed our faces and freshened our skin.

"Ah…isn't this so peaceful?" Lilia said, putting her head on my shoulder.

"Sure is. The perfect start to a perfect vacation," I replied.

Just then, my subconscious kicked in. You idiot! You know what happens when you think too soon. Especially about optimistic thoughts.

We suddenly hit a bump and we all rocked in the canoe. "Whoa! What was that?" Dimetroodon exclaimed.

"Maybe we hit an underwater bump," said Robert.

The wind suddenly gusted really quickly and my hair was all over the place. "Hey, it's getting windy!"

"If it's windy, how come the trees aren't swaying?" said Darla.

I looked at the rows of trees on either side of the river. They were perfectly still. And yet, the wind was blowing mist, dust, and even a fly into my face. It was definitely close to 20 miles per hour. That's enough to move branches. But they weren't.

"Huh? That's strange? If the wind is this strong, then why aren't the trees moving?" said Roger.

I just happened to noticed the water that was being cut by the front end of the canoe. Up in front the water changed color. From clear blue to white. Uh-oh. "Um…guys. I don't think it's the wind!"

"What do you mean?" said Rudy.

"I do know one thing. You might want to hang on to something! We are about to go through the…"

We accelerated abruptly and the canoe started thrashing wildly out of control. Amidst everyone's screaming, I finished my declaration. "RAPIDS!"

The canoe thrashed about and foam and spray found its way into my nose, which send me coughing and gasping for air. "Hang on!" Lilia yelled, grabbing hold of me. I grabbed her too and shut my eyes.

Then, I felt another huge bump, and the sound of the thrashing water suddenly died down, but not completely. This time, I felt the wind really speed up. I heard Larry's voice yell, "Ah! I don't think flying was in the agenda, was it, Spiny?"

What's he talking about?! I opened my eyes. Holy cats! We were flying in the air. "Hold on to whatever you can! The landing's going to be a little bit…" Of course, the river and the canoe weren't going to let me finish.

We landed with a tremendous SPLASH! We were all now drenched and dripping as if we'd taken a Jacuzzi bath with all our clothes on. Except this wasn't exactly a stress-releasing experience. More like a stress-causing experience.

Then the canoe went crazy. It started spinning in circles. "I regret having eaten three eggs this morning!" Robert yelled. His face had gone completely green.

"Don't you throw up on me, Robert!" I barely managed to yell over the thunderclap of the river.

"No, don't worry! I'll aim for Lilia!"

"What?" she yelled.

Well, at least I know that Robert will be sarcastic, even in the face of death. I felt the sensation of a force throwing me forward, like I was about to do a front-flip. Only it was on water and I didn't have the proper equipment.

Yep, the canoe did a front-flip and for a few seconds, it was upside-down. With all of us under the water. We hit another rock and the canoe went rightside-up again. I nearly lost grip of it and sank further.

The canoe was not only filled with ten, drenching kids, but also jumping fish. "Hey, this is great! This'll make-up for what I lost," Larry said. He held up one of the fish so show me. But his trophy didn't last long.

A piranha came out of the still violent waters and snatched it, jumping over the canoe and making a perfect landing. They all started jumping all over the place. You could hear their jaws snapping and their teeth chomping.

"Ah! Help! Attack of the mutated, mini-aliens!" said Darla.

"Actually, it's Pygocentrus nattereri! Or commonly known as a red-bellied piranha!" said Dimetroodon.

"Whatever! I don't plan to have chunks of my skin ripped off!" she said, still holding on for dear life to the edge of the canoe.

"Don't worry! I'll take care of this!" Larry shouted, taking something out of his bag. I was surprised he still had it. All the other ones had been lost when the canoe went flying in the air and when it flipped over.

"Larry! What are you doing with a shotgun?"

Either he ignored me or didn't hear me over the roar of the water and the snapping piranhas. In any case, he started firing wildly in all directions while we all ducked down to avoid becoming buckshot.

After hearing nothing but the sound of explosions in my ears for three straight minutes, Larry yelled at the top of his lungs. "All clear!"

Just as he was finishing his sentence, the roar of the water quieted dramatically to normal. I opened my eyes and lifted my head to look around. We'd left the rapids and were now at a normal pace.

Well, we were wet, scared, hair all over the face, bugs in our faces, and a little bruised, but alive. "Phew! That's the first and last time I go canoeing," Kathy stated, dumping the water out of her cap.

"Hey, guys, I don't want to alarm anyone, but why is it that I have water bubbling up my feet?" Roger said.

"What?" Larry stood up and looked around him. "Uh-oh. We have ten holes on the bottom of the canoe."

"That's not comforting after what we just went through," said Robert.

"At least we're not going so fast anymore," said Greeny.

"Now we can pull over to shore and get out of here," said Patty. She looked at Rudy. "Rudy, row us back to shore, please?"

"Um…about that…I have a confession to make." He laughed nervously and fidgeted with his hands. "I lost all oars when we were back in the rapids."

"Oh, great! Now we have no way of getting off of this thing!" said Roger.

Like I said, the current was now calm, but firm, so there was no way of paddling to either side. Roger climbed over to the front end of the canoe and pointed ahead. "Hey, guys, look! There's a ton of mist ahead."

We all turned our eyes towards where his finger pointed. Sure enough, a wall of low-hanging clouds touched the water. "You sure that's mist? Or fog? It looks more like clouds!" said Lilia.

"Well, they're all the same thing, aren't they?" said Kathy.

The familiar roar of water was audible again. But this roar sounded a lot more deeper and ferocious.

Clouds…roar of water…calm yet firm current…uh-oh. That means only one thing.

While I was thinking, Roger said, "Who votes that those are clouds?" Kathy, Darla, Roger, and Dimetroodon raised their hands. Or tails, in the case of the latter.

"All right, who votes that it's mist?"

"Waterfall, anyone?" I blurted out.

Larry's eyes jumped. "Ah-heh heh. IN that case…SAY YOUR PRAYERS, EVERYONE!"

Everyone grabbed the nearest able-bodied living organism and held on for our very dear lives. I held onto Lilia and shut my eyes. The still air suddenly became a strong gust of moist, cool wind and I felt the whole world spinning crazily.

It was much quicker than I imagined going down a waterfall would be. The sensation of the water hit me like a lash and I lost grip on Lilia. As soon as I went under, I was pulled by a violent current.

I thrashed around wildly trying to reach the surface, but I was pulled down even more. The light of the sun soon became invisible. I saw nothing but black. No canoe, no Lilia, no nothing. The current pulled me downwards another half mile or so then it changed abruptly to make a horizontal path.

I got pulled deeper into the darkness of the heavy liquid that was now robbing my peace and plunging me into terror.

I was ready to let it all in (literally) and surrender. Then, the current stopped. It didn't slow down. It stopped. Completely. I looked around the murkiness and saw faint lights above me. On instinct, I speed upwards until I breached the surface.

I gasped for air, as my lungs cried out in desperation. I saw a rocky surface nearby and rushed over to there.

That must've been some current, because as I was dragging my exhausted body onto dry land, I saw more figures coming out of the water. The faint lights on the ceiling of the subterranean cave illuminated me enough to see what everyone was accounted for and alive.

I rushed over to where they were all gathering together, worn out and gasping for breath. "Well….that was the best free roller coaster I've ever had," Darla said.

"Oh, shut up!" Robert managed to say in between panting.

"Next time we go on a canoe, can you do something, Spiny?" said Lilia.

"What?"

"Please install seat belts!


	11. Chapter 11

"Okay, I know that we probably shouldn't panics or anything under the circumstances, but I do have one question," said Kathy. "But, uh…where are we?!"

"Seems to be an underground cavern system," Larry responded, taking out the map, which had survived the "journey" by pure miracle. He unfolded it and examined it. "This cave isn't on the map. It says that there's lot of caves around here, but they're all in the mountains. It doesn't say anything about a system of caverns underneath or behind the waterfall."

"How are we going to get out?" Greeny said in a terrified tone. Patty tried to comforting him. "It's okay, Greeny. We'll get out."

"We'll we definitely can't go back the way we came from," said Roger.

"Yeah, not only is the current too strong, but we can't swim without life jackets and we might cut ourselves on something," said Lilia.

"And it's impossible to swim up a waterfall," said Rudy.

"Yeah, and unless you guys want to explore a little…" Larry said in a hesitant voice. He looked at me. "Have you got the satellite phone? Maybe we can call help."

"I don't think there's going to be good signal down here," Dimetroodon said.

"Still. Won't hurt to try."

Uh-oh. About that satellite phone….

I scratched the back of my head and stammered. "The satellite phone?"

"Yes. Don't tell me you forgot to bring it."

I quickly shook my head. "No, I did bring it for the trip."

"Well, where is it?"

"Um…remember when Dimetroodon accidentally ripped off my pants with his fishing line?"

"Yeah…"

"Well…when I changed, I left it in the pocket and I forgot to, uh…"

Larry rolled his eyes and groaned. "Oh, Spiny. And I thought I was the clumsy idiot."

Before I could dragged into another senseless argument with him, Darla popped in and said, "I'd like to explore this place. I don't know why, but I've suddenly gotten curious."

"Well…" said Larry.

"Me too! I'm starting to like this place. I mean, we're underground, underwater, behind a waterfall, and we might find some cool stuff no one's ever heard of!" said Lilia.

Everyone looked at me. They were waiting for me to make the final verdict. "I guess it's okay. Sure, why don't we take a look around?"

They all whooped and cheered. "I'm glad you said that. Because I brought these!" Larry pulled out some headlamps, and handed it out to all of us. Even Greeny looked excited with his own!

"Let's go then!" I took the lead and Larry walked near me with the supplies that we still had. We had apparently come up into an air bubble within the walls of rock. There was a slit in one side where we fit through a tunnel-like system.

The walls of the cave were toned a faint blue-gray color with sparkling minerals reflecting our headlamps. "How come no one ever knew this was here?" Robert asked.

"Maybe anyone who did manage to get down here probably either drowned or died from a head injury during the current. It was pretty violent beneath the waterfall. And I think that on most days, the mist wouldn't be covering the edge," said Larry.

"So if we'd set out on the canoe sooner, like after lunch, we wouldn't have ended here," I mentioned.

"Most likely," said Roger.

I was admiring a piece of cave ceiling when Lilia suddenly pushed me to the side. "Spiny, watch out!"

"What? What happened?"

"You almost got spiked."

"What?"

She pointed behind us where I'd been walking. There was a razor-sharp, four-foot tall stalagmite.

In front of us, you could see more stalagmites and stalactites, water dripping off their pointy ends. There were some pretty impressive crystals coming out of the walls of the cave. There was calcite, quartz crystals, selenite, and aragonite.

Larry's voice echoed through the cavern. "Hey, guys! Look at this!"

I picked up some minerals and placed them in my pocket, then ran after the others before their headlamps left me in darkness. As I pumped my legs towards the sound of Larry's voice, I noticed a change in the air.

It went from warm and muggy to cool and moist. And the silence was faded by the sound of rushing water. I got very excited and ran faster towards the sound. We finally stopped on the edge of the bluest, clearest, and quietest river I have ever seen.

The reflection of the water ripples caressed the ceiling and walls of the cavern in a soothing and tender glow. The water was so crystal clear that it lighted up the place with a fantastical blue-green light.

"Wow," was all I could say. We were all hypnotized beyond words. "I've never seen water so…so clear…and beautiful," I said softly, in respect to the wonder that was being demonstrated in front of us.

Rudy stepped forward and leaned down on all fours on the riverbank. He leaned his head forward and opened his crocodilian jaws to scoop water into his mouth. "Hey, this water is sweet! I'm not kidding. It's like sweet. Like sugar-kind of sweet. But it has nothing in it. Just water."

I leaned down and scooped up some water in my hands, bringing it to my lips. The savor of the water was divine enough to make my tongue explode with saliva and my hunger went skyrocketing.

The sweetness made me shiver and I even got a little dizzy!

"This is…this is really something, isn't it?" Lilia said, now kneeling down beside me.

"It sure is."

"Let's go see what's at the end of the river!" Patty said in enthusiasm.

I laughed. "Okay, okay. Come on, troops! Let's go see where this leads too."

As we followed the river's path, I heard the sound of crunching behind me. "Greeny, stop eating rocks!"

His cheeks were bulging and when he spoke, tiny crumbs dropped out of his mouth. "Im mugh emgh rocmhs!"

"What? Spit that out!"

He spit the rocks and the saliva out…in the river of course. Well, there goes the cleanest water on Earth. Well, I'm sure that it has a way of keeping clean. No water can stay that clean for thousands of years. Or even more.

I returned my gaze back in front of me. The river went through another small slit or conduit. Larry went in first. He gets very excited about discovering new places and seeing things first before anyone else.

He ran several yards ahead of the rest of us. We were still about 30 feet behind him when I heard him say, "Oh, wow!" His voice became much more distant and the echo sounded more long-lived. More than back at the place we ended up. "Guys, look!"

We all ran to see what the excitement was about. The river led us to a huge chamber of the cave, like a massive room. The stalagmites and stalactites disappeared and so did the minerals in the walls.

The chamber illuminated with a brilliant, almost blinding white-yellowish radiance. Standing in front of me was a huge colony of the biggest quartz crystals I'd ever seen. My breath escaped from me as I contemplated the scenery around me. It was almost alien-like.

We were all speechless. We simply had no words for the moment.

Finally, Darla said, "Question. Are we still on Earth? I think that current made us cross dimensions or something."

"This is…incredible!" said Roger in awe.

"Looking at this, I'd say that these crystals must be at least…fifty feet tall!" Larry said, surprised by his own estimations.

"Fifty feet? That's almost as tall as the Palace!" Patty said.

I was admiring the way my image reflected on the bottom of the giant crystals when Roger yelled. "Hey, Spiny! Come over here! Look at the cave walls in the area!" I turned around, my gaze lingering slightly.

I ran up to where Roger was standing. The wall in front of us radiated out in several hundred small, green lights. "Spiny are those…what I think they are?"

I rubbed my eyes and shook my head to make sure I wasn't dreaming. "Those…those are not emeralds, Roger."

"And it's definitely not kryptonite!"

My hand grabbed the odd-shaped green form that was growing out of the wall. "Roger, these are…green diamonds. Naturally-occurring green diamonds!"

"I thought they didn't exist in nature!"

But there we were, looking at the evidence right before us. Larry and the others heard the commotion and jogged over to the place we were standing. Larry's eyes almost bugged out of his head. "Is that a green diamond?"

I showed it to him. "See for yourself."

He grabbed the diamond ever so gently as everyone leaned in to take a closer look. "Spiny…I've…I've dreamed about a discovery like this. And if this is a real, green diamond…what else have we yet to see?"

"Can you imagine what more there is to be discovered?" said Patty.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Lilia said with a smile.

"No time like the present. Let's start looking!" Larry shouted with the smile beaming off his face. He was truly enjoying this. I was glad he liked it.

We all ran in separate directions. I found what seemed to be a tributary of the river. Not only was it also as clear as its parent river, it also had numerous alluvial gold deposits on the bottom of it!

The hue was eerily close to that of yellow of a hazy summer sunset.

The water was only about two or three feet deep. I reached down to touch the gold, which easily came into my hand. Now very excited, I started grabbing more and placed everything in Larry's pack, along with stuff the others found.

"Hey, guys! Look at this!" I heard Dimetroodon's voice echoing. His voice resonated from about fifty feet to my right. I dried my hands and we all ran over to where he was. We followed his voice to a small cavity on the side of the cave.

It was not just a cavity. It was…a doorway?

"Are those…doors?" Rudy said, perplexed.

It was unmistakable. They had the same color and texture of the cave walls. But there was a dividing line down the middle that was perfectly straight. They were doors. Almost without knowing it, I reached out and touched it with my fingers.

There was a loud noise and the doors opened, revealing a smaller chamber in the cave. This was different. There were no natural shapes nor minerals in the walls. This was all made by someone who'd been down here before.

The chamber was about five hundred or so feet in size and the ceiling was now six feet above us, instead of almost a hundred back in the room with the crystals. In front of me, on the floor I saw some white-gray things coming out of the floor.

"Are those bones?" I said.

"Yeah…they're dinosaur bones!" said Roger.

"Those are Spinosaurus bones!" said Robert.

Yeah, they were. The spines on the back that formed our distinctive sail and the upper crocodile-like jaw with just a few teeth.

"Hey, I think that's my ancestor!" I said, laughing.

"It could be," said Larry, looking dead serious. "What I don't get is why, who, and how they got down here and built this room. Why did they? I mean crystals and green diamonds, yes, but…"

His sentence was interrupted when a loud noise startled us again. We looked behind and watched in shock as the doors shut tight. We ran to them and started pounding. "Hey, what's going on?" said Kathy.

"Uh-oh!" said Larry.

"What do you mean by that?" Lilia asked now sounding very concerned.

"I think this room is a trap. An old trap."

"Trap? How old? And why does it still work? Wouldn't that mean that the victims hadn't come before?"

He shrugged and noticed something behind him. He scurried over to what seemed to be another fossil. "Hey, this is a Velociraptor. And, unless I'm mistaken, this one's covered in metal!"

"Metal? A metal fossil?" Robert asked.

"Yeah."

I walked over to the supposed metallic fossil and clinked my fingers on it. "Yeah, it's metal. Iron?"

"No, I don't think so. I think it's iridium. Yeah, it's iridium."

"You sure?" said Dimetroodon.

"Sure, because the only ones who use iridium armor are the…" Then his eyes got huge and he dropped his bag, the crystals and diamonds clinking. "Oh. My. God."

"What is it?"

"The only ones that I know of that use iridium in their armor are…The Red Eyes."

The silence was so great you could've heard a crystal starting to grow in a cavity in the cave. "You're joking, right?" I said. My pulse accelerated and I felt my heart pounding in my throat.

Larry shook his head with the same look of horror on his face. "I'm not joking. This isn't a fossil. It's a long-dead Red Eye who still had his armor on. But what I don't get is why…" he started pacing around. "Why did he come all the way down here? I mean, the Red Eyes have plenty of precious minerals. There must've been something even more valuable than green diamonds and fifty-foot quartz crystals."

At that moment, a blue light suddenly turned on from the farthest corner in the room. It wasn't blinding, but bright enough to light up the room completely. "Whoa, what was that? Is somebody here with us?" Kathy said, jumping behind me for protection.

Larry went to investigate. Then I saw what was causing the glow. There was a hand-carved pedestal or stand with a glowing cube about the size of a human palm on it. "Could this be…no, it couldn't be! Or could it?" Larry examined it, but didn't touch it.

I heard him gasp and mutter something under his breath. Then, with an expression I've never seen before, he said to us, "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Terra-Track."


	12. Chapter 12

"You lost me," said Kathy. "What in Poseido's name is the Terra-whatevs?"

"Terra-Track," Larry corrected her. He didn't touch the cube…er, Terra-Track. "This cube…oh, I thought it was only a legend!"

"Whoa! Hold the phone!" Darla said, raising both her hand. "Legend? What exactly is all this? Why is that cube so important? Have you heard before?"

Larry then stared at all of us. "None of you have ever heard of the Legend of the Protectors of the Universe?"

"No, not that I can remember," said Rudy.

"What is that, anyway?" Patty asked.

A huge smile appeared on Larry's face. "Oh, wow! You guys are in for a special treat! Sit down. You guys are going to love this!"

We sat down on the dusty and quite uncomfortable ground. Larry remained close to the Terra-Track, but still refrained from touching it. Its brilliant blue glow illumined the room, filling it with a sense of drama.

"Well, you see. This legend has never been heard of in Amarkia, as far as I know. The only places where I've heard of it was when I was living undercover amongst the Red Eyes, the spies whom I sent to the IEO." That stands for the Intergalactic Evil Organization. Not exactly the best evil-sounding name, but then again, they are only good at being a nuisance.

Anyways, Larry continued by saying, "And amongst the oldest and most experienced members of The Space Armies and their home planets."

"Tell us the legend!" Robert said, impatiently.

"Stop interrupting! Don't get the cart before the horse! Now…" he started pacing again. "Oh, yes. It was said that millions of years ago, at about the same time that Amarkia was founded, during the Mid-Cretaceous period, a new evil force threatened the existence of the universe.

"No one knew where they came from, how long they'd been in existence or anything about their leader. All we knew is that they were called The Great Conglomerate. But I suspect, not sure, but suspect, that they may have come from another dimension, because of the level of advancement in their technology. Even more advanced than the Red Eyes."

"What's all this got to do with the cube?" said Roger.

"It's Terra-Track. And I'm getting there. Now, it was said that The Great Conglomerate had the ability to destroy the entire universe and all the other parallel universes and dimensions. They supposedly chained the energy from a place where the past, present, and future all intersected with the fabric of space-time."

"You've been talking for five minutes and you haven't said anything!" said Kathy. I wasn't surprised since she nearly flunked her science test at the end of the year.

Larry ignored her and continued. "They never used that 'weapon' of course since it would destroy them too. And the cube was a black-red. And though the level and power of the cube was always constant, you could always control whether it was for good or for evil. Anyways, it was this fear that kept order in the universe, but not peace. Everyone lived in constant terror for their lives.

"Then, the leaders of The Great Conglomerate discovered that disgruntled members of their own council had stolen the Terra-Track. The thieves were never found and some say they are still alive amongst the oldest generations of the Space Armies. And for a while, the Terra-Track disappeared and everyone denied having possession of it. That's when the TGC began a mass universal killing and began slaughtering entire peoples, wiping out species and destroying galaxies.

"That's when the first origins of the Space Armies began. Several powerful people and their families who had been former allies of The Great Conglomerate began to assemble their own armies against them. Oh, those wars went on for eons! It was by just great chance that it was happening millions of light-years away from the Milky Way. It was the safe haven in the universe. The only place where true peace and justice reigned.

By now, he had also taken a seat next to the stand where the Terra-Track continued to contemplate us. "It wasn't until…85 or so million years later when rumors started to spread that the Terra-Track was in a planet on the Orion Arm of the Milky Way. Right where our solar system is." He took a deep breath and sighed. "And at one point, it was argued that it was right here on Earth."

He got up and started walking again. "But never did I imagine that…" he looked back the blue glow emanating from the mysterious and enthralling cube. "It was said that…if it fell into the hand of those who believed in justice, and good, and peace…then they would have to key to not only eternal energy but also to eternal peace in all universes."

We all breathed a moment of silence to grasp everything that had just been spoken. It suddenly made sense. That was the reason. That Terra-Track was why the Red Eyes hated us so much. They knew the whole time it was on Earth. In Amarkia. And they were right.

"And now…what? Now that we've rediscovered this…holy grail of the universe?" Lilia asked.

Larry kept on a straight face. "I don't know. Now, Amarkia could enjoy complete security and an endless supply of energy. But it also raises our risk factor a thousand times. It won't be long before the IEO and the Red Eyes find out. And when they do…they will do absolutely anything to get it back in their possession."

"How long do you think it will take for them to find out?" Rudy asked.

Larry just shrugged. "I have no way of knowing. Like I said, all that stuff was supposed to be legends. I never was an eyewitness to any of those events. Just hearsay. But it could differ. Anywhere from minutes from now to thousands or even millions of years from today."

"I vote for the latter," said Dimetroodon.

"Well, we have to be careful," Larry warned us. "It's been a long time since anyone knew how to use this thing we have to-Greeny don't do that!"

When I saw what Greeny was about to do, my heart stopped beating completely. He was reaching out to touch the Terra-Track! With his hand!

"Ow!" His screaming resonated in the room walls and in my brain. I rushed over to him, not caring for a moment that I stepped on my girlfriend's hand. I grabbed Greeny's hand and examined it. "It burned me!"

Then my fear became confusion. I saw no burn marks or any signs of injury.

Larry read my thoughts, because he said, "Maybe it's some sort of thermal burn shield this thing has."

We suddenly heard a loud grinding sound and the ground shook violently. The fluids in my inner ear started rushing and I immediately started getting dizzy. Greeny grabbed on to me, burying his face in my shirt. I placed my arms around him to protect him from whatever was coming.

Dust filled my nostrils and I started coughing loudly, bringing spams of pain to my chest. I felt a sudden rush of cold, fresh wind blowing right into my face. Then, when the grinding noises halted, there was the sound of night air.

I opened my eyes and saw the mountains in the background, the forest in front, and the waning full moon in the sky. "Did…did that thing just…"

Larry nodded, also in complete awe.

"You mean…it can do things…with just one touch?" said Darla.

"We just saw a demonstration, didn't we?" said Roger.

"So this is how they got out," I said, standing up, but staying near Greeny just in case something happened. And something did. This is going to sound weird, so hang on. Once we all started exiting the room and stepped back into the forest, the Terra-Track started floating upwards in the air, then it moved by itself towards us and it landed inside Larry's pack! Then, the blue blow faded to a dim light.

"Wow! I think it just decided to make us its new owners," said Robert.

"You know, by the way this thing is acting, I say it's not impossible that it has, over the millennia, created a mind of its own," Larry said.

About a half hour later, we found our way back to the camp. You can only imagine how we felt after all the events of that day. Once everyone else was asleep in our tent, Larry crawled over to my sleeping bag with the cube in his hand and whispered, "I just remembered something about this thing."

I looked around just to make sure no one listened. "What?"

"This thing also is indestructible and can destroy anything. The most powerful weapons imaginable can be made from it. Like giant plasma lasers. Those can destroy even the strongest force fields. Maybe even the ones the Red Eyes use."

"Wow! Really?"

"Yep."

"Where does it get all its energy?" I asked.

"Well, I'm not sure, but my Higher Intelligence Power tells me that all its mammoth energy is because it was created in a super-large black hole. IN other words, this cube is really just small singularity. It has the capability to rip the fabric of space and time."

I felt my entire throat go dry. Bone dry. "This thing can…rip the fabric of space-time? The fabric that makes up the universe?" He nodded. "And what would happen if it did that?"

He shrugged. "Oh, maybe shortcuts, wormholes, or even involuntary dimension-travel. That makes at even more important to keep this thing under the lid, if you know what I mean."

My eyes fell upon the cube as I laid my head back on the pillow and Larry turned out the lamp, with the cube's flow in my face. As the minutes passed, the glow faded slowly until there was nothing left but a small, white dot in the center. Holy cats! This thing really does have a mind of its own. It even goes to sleep when we do. How does it know it?

My father always said, "Keep on asking questions, son. Even if it's the same questions, or about the same subject. You will eventually get your answer."

I had a gazillion questions at the moment.

But some I would have to learn the hard way.


	13. Chapter 13

It was 3:45 AM when I woke up and saw my atomic watch reading. Everything within the past 24 hours had really taken a toll on my mind and body. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. Larry had the oil lamp on and was still examining the Terra-Track.

Without taking his eyes off of it, he said, "Can't sleep, uh?"

"Nope. I guess I just have a lot on my mind. That cube really can keep your mind in empty space. No pun intended."

"You know, I'm no expert, but so far, I think I've been able to trace the origins of the infinite power of this thing."

"I'm listening."

"From what I've been able to observe, it seems as if, long ago, probably just a few million years right after the universe formed and when things were still coming together, every time a star died, if it was big enough it formed a supernova. And as you know, if what's left of the supernova is large enough, it can form a black hole or a singularity, right?"

I nodded. "Right."

"There's a rare occurrence called Neplosion. It happens when a black hole or what's left of it explodes and implodes."

"How can something explode and implode at the same time? That's impossible! It can only be one of the two. No object in the universe has that capability."

"Well, they are extremely rare. In fact, since the beginning of the universe about 14 billion years ago, it has only occurred five times. But they left nothing behind. No energy, no radiation, nothing." He held up the cube for both to see. The dim blue glow had returned, but the white center had now shrunk. "And apparently the last one left something."

I could not stop being awed by the great magnitude of our discovery. "I can't believe that we stumbled across this. The power of the entire universe and then some, all in one cube."

Larry held it closer to my face. "You can hold it if you want to."

"Really?"

"Sure. It's not dangerous. I think it just burned Greeny's hand because it had been tens of millions of years since anyone actually handled it. But go ahead; hold it in your hands. Just don't drop it. Or point a laser at it. Or connect it to an external power source."

"What happens if you do…any of those things you just said?"

"It will destroy everything and everyone near it. This thing has the energy of 500 stars the size or larger than our sun."

Larry gently dropped the cube into my sweaty palms. The surface was smooth. Perfectly smooth. It reminded me of newly washed and polished glass. It felt warm. It felt…alive. I could distinctly hear noises inside of it. It was the sound of the universe. Of millions of galaxies and their stars and planets all beating together like a giant body.

"Can you imagine the kind of technology we can make with this? The kind of weapons?" I said.

"I can," Larry said, nodding his head. "We could build giant destructive planetary lasers. Lasers powerful enough to destroy dozens of planets at once. It is very possible."

"You…you can make that out of this? Like a Death Star, sort of?"

"Not exactly, but similar. The Death Star could only destroy one planet at a time. But the energy from this thing is thousands if not millions of times greater than that. I estimate it could destroy 70 Jupiter-sized planets at once. Now can you imagine how Earth-sized objects that would be?" Larry said.

Being in awe doesn't describe what I felt. Admiration was not even close. It was…fear, I think. Not morbid fear. It was more of a reverent fear. It was…almost worship. This six-sided, palm-sized object contained the entire history of the universe. Even the future. This was no crystal ball.

It held everything that kept the universe alive.

The very core and heart of all that existed was in our hands. At least part of it.

"I now I can say with certainty that it is vital and essential to keep this precious object away from enemy hands," said Larry.

Just the thought of all that power falling into the hands of our most feared enemies: Red Eyes, Ecthros Antipalos, Arkaptiko Viastis, and so many others. The thought of that brought true fear into me. If they managed to get the super-powers…well, that would be bad.

But having all the energy and power of the universe in their hands…that was terrifying.

"We have to find a secret place to hide this. But even the Bunker or the Secret Lab won't be enough. We have to think of some other place. Some place where literally no one knows where it is."

"You mean like those caves that supposedly didn't exist?" I asked.

"Exactly. But now that the rest of the group knows, it puts us in more danger."

"What do you mean? You don't think any of them would go and tell people, right?"

He shook his head. "No of course not. I trust all of them. But, let's just say they were captured by the Red Eyes. They have the ability search their minds, even the subconscious, so see if they know about anything."

I understood what they meant. Knowledge could be a weapon even more destructive than planet destroyers, plasma guns, or even black hole missiles.

"So, where are you going to hide it?" I asked.

"Under the pillow."

What? "Under the pillow! What was all that stuff you just said?"

"Hey, I wasn't prepared for this. It was supposed to be just a normal camping trip. How was I to know that we would find the single most important and valuable object in the universe?"

"I don't know! But you can't keep it under the pillow. Why don't you just hide it in TIV? It's the safest place right now."

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right. Okay. You have the keys?" I handed him the keys. "I'm going to hide it in the trunk, underneath something. Anything. We'll discuss it at breakfast tomorrow. In the best of secrecy of course."

"Sure. And be careful, please! We're not carrying any regular cargo here."

"Don't worry!" he said, stepping outside the tent. "I'll be so careful you won't even know I'm here. I'll be so careful that I will—ah!"

So careful so as to trip over last night's campfire wood? So careful to land in the girls' tent and cause the whole thing to come crashing down? So careful so that the girl's mistook him for a rapist and started beating the lights out of him and all you could hear were punching and kicking noises?

I ran out into the chilly night air to see if I could help mi. Where the tent used to be was now a moving mass of fabric and the yelling of voices and one pained Eoraptor getting kicked out and landing right on my head. "Spiny! Help! The tent! It's full of she-rapists!"

"Get off me!" I pulled him by the tail and he let go of me. "That was the girls thinking you were the rapist. Haven't you counted the bruises you have now? I'm pretty sure you have broken ribs."

"Oh, don't worry. I can fix that with the Regeneration Power."

He suddenly became very hot. I'm not kidding. You see I was holding him up by the scruff of the neck. My hand suddenly felt burned and I let go of him. His hands were outstretched and they knocked the Terra-Track out of my hand, landing on the ground.

I seriously expected the ground would open or the Earth would explode into a million pieces. I mean, think about it. If you're carrying an object that carries all the energy and power of the universe and it drops to the ground, you will get the worst scare of your life!

But nothing happened. "See what you did?" Larry yelled.

"What I did?!" I responded.

"You almost killed us!"

"You almost got yourself killed because of your clumsiness."

I let go of him and he dusted his arms off. "Okay. Look before we get into more trouble, I'm going to put that thing where no one gets hurt. Somebody you know very well might blow himself up into 85 pieces."

"Sounds good to me!" I said sarcastically. I took a step forward.

"Wait, no!" Larry yelled frantically.

When I stepped on the Terra-Track we were knocked down by a giant shockwave and a blast of pressure impacted my eardrums. It lasted only three seconds but it blew down both tents and knocked down several trees in a circular way around us.

The guys must've been dead or something because they didn't move at all. The girls on the other hand managed to crawl out of their doomed place of rest, very disturbed. And quite angry.

"What are you fools doing?" Kathy yelled her eyes red and puffy and her hair all over the place.

"What do you mean fools? I'm not going anything!" I said.

"Yes, we mean the both of you!" Darla yelled.

"I resent that!" I said.

"We were just, uh…transporting the cube to a safer location. It's not safe in the tent," Larry explained.

"Do it fast then! We need our sleep!" Kathy shouted.

They were so angry and tired that they didn't even bother trying to restore the tent. They just crawled under the collapsed fabric and went back to their sleeping bags. Then I glared at Larry. "Well, thanks a lot! Now put that away before you cause more trouble!"

"Me? What did I do?" Larry whined.

"Just do it!"

"All right!" He used the keys to open the back door of TIV. He thrusted his body forward allowing me to only see his tail. He was messing with a ton of stuff in there until he found where he would hide it. Then he came back out and closed the door.

We suddenly heard the sound of an engine starting. "Um…Larry…did you by chance turn the TIV's engine on?"

I could see Larry's eyes in the moonlight. They were so wide and the pupils so small that I actually got scared for a second. "I…I don't think so."

The engine started revving.

You won't believe what happened next.

The TIV started accelerating by itself!

"What's happening?" I yelled.

"Follow that freak tank!" Larry shouted. We both pumped our arms and legs and fell in line behind our vehicle. "It's up to 20 miles per hour!" Larry yelled.

And I could tell it was getting faster. We were both running as quickly as we could. And not to brag or anything, but I'm in pretty good shape as far as being athletic goes.

There was no way we would catch up with the runaway TIV.

The TIV zoomed by past a ranger vehicle. Now ordinarily, I wouldn't do what I did, but this was no ordinary occasion. I wasn't just worried about TIV. I know these parts very well and I happen to know the TIV was racing off towards a cliff.

So besides fearing losing my prized vehicle, I was also worried about the Terra-Track. Remember what happened when I stepped on it? Now imagine what could result from a fall from a precipice. It would most likely wipe Amarkia, Egypt, Sudan, and Libya right off the map in two seconds.

So you can understand why I jumped into the ranger truck with Larry and we chased after TIV. We quickly accelerated and even at 67 miles per hour, TIV was still about 300 yards in front of us. I sure hope the Terra-Track wouldn't suddenly decide to make a sharp turn. Not only were we going too fast, but we also had no way of turning.

Larry then decided to take drastic action. He teleported away for about twenty seconds, then reappeared again the the passenger seat. He had the Terra-Track in his hand. "I got it! Stop the car!"

I slammed my foot on the brakes and heard the all-too familiar sound of screaming rubber on rocky ground. We came to a halt about 500 feet from the edge of the cliff. But we had no way of getting TIV to stop. Even though we had the Terra-Track now, TIV kept going.

Well, you can guess what happened, right?

Well, there goes $500,000 and centuries of memories and experiences. I closed my eyes tight as I heard the terrible sound of metal and glass shattering and the impact when TIV hit the bottom.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a patrol car appeared out of the forest, its flashing blue-and-red lights obscuring the full moon. "What's going on here?" one of them yelled.

Larry and I stepped out of the ranger truck. He hid the cube in the glove compartment. Great, now we're going to lose the ranger truck. Surprisingly, it didn't move. But the two police offers didn't look so happy. "What do you think you're doing?"

"He happens to be the King, if you should now," Larry said,

"I don't care if he's Mother Teresa. You're coming with me to headquarters for robbery and indulgent behavior."

"Say what?" I yelled.

"Silence. You have the right to not speak. You also have the right to…"

"Oh, cut the yip-yap!" Larry shouted.

"What did you say?"

"The King happened to be using this truck under official business."

"Yeah, and if you don't like that we can discuss that down at my headquarters!" I said. Out of nowhere, four Imperial Helicopters rose out from behind me and pointed their guns at the squad car.

"Uh…say, now that you mention it. I do have other matters to which I need to tend to. Bye now. Have a safe night!" He ran like a rabbit and the squad car got the heck out of there. I turned back to the helicopters and yelled into the microphone. "Thanks, boys. You can leave now. I can take care of it."

They all dispersed back to their secret locations.

I peeked over the edge of the canyon. "Well , I guess that's the end of TIV."

"That thing's really rugged. I'll send a scout troop to see if they can recover it," said Larry. Then he yawned and stretched his arms. "But now I think we need to resume our NREM sleep. This has been too much adventuring and action for one weekend."

Next morning, just before daybreak, I went to take a shower. Ah! Felt so refreshing to feel that warm water over my tired muscles. Can you even count all I'd been running, jumping, swimming, and anything else I'd been doing since yesterday morning? Not counting when was struck, slapped, poked, punched, kicked, and the 4 or 5 times I nearly died.

That's my life, dude. (Or in case you're a girl, I'll just say "dudette.")

After coming out, I noticed not only the dizzying morning mountain air, but also the scent of…flour, eggs, milk, butter, and even oil.

Lilia was standing over the campfire and pouring the pancake batter onto a flat rock. Natural, outdoor-style camping pancakes! Mmm! My mouth watered and I felt the cramps in my stomach.

Lilia eyes looked up at me and smiled. "Good morning, handsome!" She stood up and walked over to me and crashed her lips against mine. I kissed her hard and I kept her as close to me as possible.

"I love greeting you that way," I said.

She smiled and her light brown-honey eyes reflected the golden rays of the awakening circle that gave us all life and breath.

I sat next to Lilia and helped her flip the pancakes. Then Patty and Greeny came back, both in their hiking clothes. I'd packed everyone an extra set just in case. I mean, when you take Larry, Dimetroodon, and Rudy along anywhere, you just know that there will be trouble.

Anyways, Patty and Greeny came back with two large baskets. I went over to greet them and gave them both a kiss. (Hey, I'm very affectionate, so don't call me a softie or I'll be coming for you!)

"What you got there?" I asked.

"Tell him, Greeny," Patty said.

"We got up early to get berries for the pancakes!" Greeny answered with a smile as golden as the rising sun.

Once we were all dressed and wide-awake we sat in a circle around the fire while Lilia and Kathy served the pancakes. In front of me was the perfect one. The one I wanted. The flour was gold. Golden yellow. It reflected the sun's rays so intricately. The butter oozed off the center and the wild honey twinkled in the light as Lilia poured it.

Before I could even say "Dibs" Larry appeared out of nowhere and stuffed the pancake into his mouth. I mean, he grabbed it and shoved it down his throat. He even stuck his arms down there.

"I wanted that," I said, feeling my blood starting to boil.

"What, Spiny?"

Okay, just calm down. Chill. Lilia's watching you. Don't lose your cool. I forced a smile. "I wanted that pancake, Larry."

He regurgitated the pancake and placed it in front of me, saliva and stomach acid dripping. Talk about a lost paradise. "Here you go. You want it? No? Okay." Shoved back into his stomach. Pushed it all the way down.

Just then, Lilia dropped a tower of pancakes in front of me. "This is yours."

"All this?"

"If you can finish it, yeah."

I smiled and kissed her lips. "Thanks, gorgeous."

I placed the napkin in my lap and grabbed the fork and knife and was ready to devour those pancakes. Then I heard the sound of…a vacuum? "Dimetroodon, what are you doing?!"

I don't know how he was doing it, but somehow, with an open mouth he was sucking in all the pancakes. "Stop it, you greedy pig! Let me have some!"

He didn't listen. All the pancakes disappeared. He even swallowed a hammer. Good! I hope he gets sick!

And that's how I started the day. Didn't get any pancakes and ended up having a pack of salt crackers and water for breakfast.

….sigh….sometimes I wish I was…


	14. Chapter 14

We decided that we'd had a good enough time with enough adventure and suspense for a weekend. Keep in mind that we were worn out from the past two days, especially yesterday afternoon and night.

So we all decided unanimously to start packing and leave that same day. Since we didn't have TIV, we called and they brought a replacement vehicle while Larry sent a scout patrol to go retrieve my beloved 7-ton tank.

"Hey, where's the TIV, anyway?" said Roger while we were packing our bags. He really catches on quick, doesn't he?

"Uh…well…we had a little incident yesterday night and this morning. Didn't you hear it?"

"Hear it?" he said. He shook his head. "I was dead asleep."

"It caused quite a ruckus," I explained. "It was the cube. We decided to hide it in TIV and it drove by itself. I'm guessing from all that energy. Anyways, TIV ended up on the bottom of a canyon."

"What? You mean the cube…drove the TIV?"

"It wasn't steering the wheel," Larry said as he went by carrying the fishing poles.

"No exactly but it did make the engine start on its own. Darnest thing I ever saw." I resumed packing and went to get the tents to stuff them into their respective duffel bags. But then I saw…they were missing! "Hey, where are the tents?"

Robert came up with his gear. "What do you mean?"

"The tents. Where are they? They were still up a few minutes ago when I came to clean up any trash we might've left behind."

"Oh, the tents? They're packed up."

"I…what? What do you mean they're already packed?"

"I mean that they're already packed. I packed them."

"Robert, that's impossible." I held up the duffel bag for the tents. "If they were already packed, they'd be in here."

"Are they supposed to go there?"

"Yes, they're supposed to go there! If not, the fabric will rip or get damaged, or one of the poles might break or something. Now, where are they?"

He scratched the back of his neck and laughed. "Um…they…they're…"

Larry opened the trunk of the car and the tents came popping out, halfway done still and poked Larry right in the face. He must've been having a bad day today, because Dimetroodon was throwing things inside, amongst which were a hammer, a pan, a bar of soap that Larry managed to swallow, and a jug of water.

Then I crossed my arms and scowled at Robert. "What makes it so hard for you to do things right? What do I have to do to make you understand?"

"Leave the throne or jump off the cliff."

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing."

Well, we all made our final restroom breaks and after triple-checking we had left nothing but footprints behind. We all stepped in the car and buckled up. "Ow!" Lilia yelped as Larry reclined the chair. "Larry, stop it! You're squishing me!"

Larry raise his eyebrow and smiled. "Am I now?"

"Larry, get the seat back up."

"Larry, get the seat up," I said to him.

"But it feel so relaxing. We're not going to do anything on the journey back home but sleep," he said.

"Larry, my foot's falling asleep!" Lilia exclaimed.

"Larry…" I said.

"Oh, fine!" he shouted. He set the seat upright again and pouted, looking out the window. I tell you, his lower lip was so far out, he could've stepped on it. But now that I think of it, it would've been impossible. Because Larry doesn't have lips.

But you know what I mean.

Anyways, we left and all started relaxing. Larry turned on the radio to modern Amarkian pop. "No, I don't like that," said Dimetroodon. So Larry changed it again until Dimetroodon told him to stop on the classical station.

"Oh, no. No that. I don't want to fall asleep at the wheel," I said.

Roger leaned forward and changed the station to rock music. Everyone shouted for Larry to change it again. He found another station with pop ballads. Coincidentally, just after the song finished playing, they played a song from my first album, Into Your Heart!

The song is called "Tell Me What You Want Me To Do."

"Now, that's what I call music," I said.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Larry rolling his around in frustration. Well, he didn't have to listen if he didn't want to! We had just entered the freeway that took us back to the city when I saw something strike the windshield.

That suddenly woke up all up. I'm not kidding. Everyone jumped up and looked around them. "Whoa! What was that?" I said.

"It looked like…a rock. Did someone just throw a rock at us?" said Darla.

"I don't know."

A few minutes passed by. "Ah, it probably was a stray pebble," said Larry. Right after he finished, a yellow ball of paint struck the windshield. "Yikes! Who just shot a paintball at us?"

I looked on both sides of the freeway. We were the only car on the road. "That's odd. There's no one but us."

Then we heard it.

The pounding of bullets on the roof. "What's going on?!" Lilia screamed.

"Someone shooting at us!" Larry yelled.

A menacing black helicopter appeared above us and fired. We ducked just as it destroyed the windshield. "What is that?" Kathy said in terror.

"What's going on?" said Greeny.

"Who's shooting?" said Rudy.

Larry shook the shards of glass off of him and stuck out his head through the window and looked behind us. "I don't see anything. I don't know why that chopper just…what is…oh no….uh, Spiny…speed up!"

"What? Why? What's going on?"

"It's the IEO! They're coming for the Terra-Track! They know we have it!"

"What? How?"

"I don't know! They're…holy crap! They just pointed their missiles at us!" Then Larry's eyes darted back to the road. "Go faster! Quick!"

I pressed the gas pedal flat on the floor a blast of wind surged in through the shattered windshield. I managed to take a look at the helicopter in the side view mirror….right before it was shot off.


	15. Chapter 15

"Hurry! Speed it up!" Larry yelled frantically.

"I'm going at 90 miles per hour!" I yelled back.

"Is that all you've got?!"

"What do you want me to do, fly?"

"Yes!"

"I can't!"

Then Larry looked behind. "Give me the Terra-Track!" Robert tossed it to him and Larry caught it. Then he placed down near the gas pedal. Almost immediately, the car accelerated with a violent thrust and the needle on the odometer started flying like crazy.

"Oh…here we go!" I yelled as I felt the tires leaving the road and the car going airborne. "We're flying!" The wind blasted inside as we rose in altitude and started going faster. The enemy helicopter behind us started raining us down in bullets again. "Hey, Spiny!"

"What?" I yelled at the top of my lungs above the awful racket.

"Do you think it might be a good idea to call for backup?"

What kind of idiot are you?! "YES I WANT YOU TO CALL FOR BACKUP!"

He waved his finger at me and said (you won't believe this), "Ah-ah-ah! You have to say please!" Just then some bullets crashed his window and sliced his seatbelt in half.

"You still want to me to say please?"

He didn't answer. He grabbed the walkie-talkie from his bag and yelled, "This is Larry, this is Larry! We need back up! We are under attack! You have our location! This is not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill! We are in grave danger! Enemy chopper from IEO attacking!"

Just as he finished that, the bullets stopped firing and for a while we heard nothing but the sound of the chopper's blades. We all seemed astounded. "What's wrong?" said Roger.

"Maybe they ran out of bullets," said Patty.

"Or maybe they don't want the cube anymore," said Lilia.

Larry poked his head out the window and looked again. "They stopped…uh-oh. Hang on to something! They're about to shot an RPG!"

I felt a sudden blast on the left side of the car and all the windows shattered and I heard the back tires exploding. The impact drove us out of control and we started spinning wildly. I felt the blood rush from my head and my stomach turned inside out.

"Ohhh, I don't feel so good!" Kathy yelled.

"Not now. It's not the time or place for that!" Larry shouted back, his eyes shut tight and his hands gripping onto the seat so much that his claws were tearing the leather.

I felt the shards of glass flying into my face, poking and stinging my nose, my cheeks, my mouth, and my eyelids. I keep them as closed tight as I knew how. The only thing was that I wouldn't be able to see.

And that was bad.

We were impacted by three more RPGs, all of them on the left side.

When I dared to open my eyes, my vision was blurry and everything outside was spinning at top speed. I caught glimpses of the helicopter as we continued spinning. Is this ever going to stop?

Larry opened his eyes just a slit. "Get this thing back on the road! I can't take this!"

"We're spinning out of control! Or have you not noticed!"

"There's a bridge underneath us! Just remove the Terra-Track and try to land us, even if it's upside down! But just land us! We're too exposed up here!"

"Larry!"

"JUST LAND US, YOU IDIOT!" he sounded genuinely scared now. I guess he was scared at the thought of the Terra-Track being stolen by the IEO.

I reached down and grabbed the Terra-Track, removing it from its spot near the gas pedal. And just like that, we started falling straight down. The car landed on the bridge Larry had said there was with a loud thud. Everything inside the car jumped, including our heads bumping against the metal roof.

But simple pains were the least of our worries.

I quickly stepped on it and raced down the road.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw two helicopters flying down near us on either side. My heart lurched in fear until I saw they had the flag of Amarkia inscribed on them. The flag of Amarkia is divided into three diagonal stripes. The one on the bottom left is light blue, the one that encompasses the upper-right is yellow and the big, middle one is white.

The chopper on the left opened its side doors and a soldier with a megaphone spoke to us. "Your Majesty! We are here! Please remain calm and continue driving! We will help you and…KA-BOOM!

The Amarkian helicopter suddenly became a fireball with the blades on fire. Then on my right, the other Amarkian chopper was also struck by the enemies. "Holy crap! They're shooting supersonic missiles!" Larry yelled.

Then, the entire left side of the car was ripped off by another strike. I mean doors, windows, hinges, everything was blasted right off! Then the IEO chopper appeared beside us. The windows were too dark for me to make out anything.

They started shooting wildly like there was no tomorrow. "OWW!" Behind me, Lilia yelled in pain. My heart started palpitating. "What happened?"

"They shot her! Three times in the leg!" Robert yelled.

By now Greeny was crying also and Kathy was not far behind. Darla said, "She's bleeding a lot and—AH!"

"They shot Darla in the arm!" Larry yelled.

I had an idea to prevent more injury. It was a crazy idea, but I was willing to do it. I swerved the steering wheel abruptly to the left, making us spin again. "Not that, please!" Kathy yelled.

Then, I grabbed the Terra-Track and dropped near my feet again. As I changed the gear into Reverse and kept my foot pressed on the gas pedal I said, "Oh, please work, Terra-Track. You better work!"

That thing must really be alive because when I turned around so that the exposed side of the car was no longer facing the helicopter, I saw that I was doing 73 mph in reverse!

It was going great, until Larry yelled, "SPINY, FOR THE LOVE OF YOUR FATHER'S MEMORY, PUT THE BRAKES ON!"

I looked behind me and my entire life suddenly went before me. If I didn't manage to stop soon, I'd kill all of us and destroy the Terra-Track when he crashed into that Amarkian military tank behind us.

I closed my eyes, said a prayer, then slammed both feet on the brake pedal. With my eyes still closed, I moved the cube next to it. I waited for the impact, but it never came. I felt the air suddenly become still and the car engine died down.

I opened my eyes and saw that we had stopped an inch from the tank that loomed behind us. I was about to say something to Larry who was crawling out of the glove compartment, but then the IEO chopper stopped about 500 yards in front of us and hovered in place.

It opened its cargo doors and a giant mass of metal and other stuff all crashed down on the bridge below. The mass started moving and forming giant arms, legs, hands, and a face. The metallic robot stood at least fifty feet or so tall and had massive armor shields and giant cannons on the end its hands.

"Ohhh, hang on! Here comes another one!" Larry yelled.

We all covered our heads and ducked down. I heard the blast of the missile and felt the impact when it destroyed the tank behind us. And I caught scent of the smoke from the fire that started in the back of the car.

Lilia suddenly cried out in pain. A blood-curling scream. I looked behind her and saw her struggling as if she'd been strapped on the seat and torrents of tears falling down her face. "My back! It hurts! Please help me!"

Roger and Larry ripped the seatbelt off her and revealed a giant bloody stain where her back had been. I had no desire to see what her back looked like. Not to mention that the entire back of her shirt was seared into the leather.

"She had a thermal burn! It looks awful!" Larry yelled.

I felt my throat closing up. But I had not time for that when the giant robot started towards us, loading up its 30-foot weapons for another shot.

Just then, we heard the sound of an aircraft engine. I looked out Larry's window and saw an Amarkian fighter jet land beside the car. A soldier in Air Force uniform quickly came out and ripped off the door.

"Hurry! Everyone get aboard! You have to get out!"

We all stepped out the burning vehicle and made a dash for it. "This girl has a severe burn and three bullet injuries in the left leg!" I said to the soldier.

"And this one has a bullet injury in the right arm!" Roger yelled, carrying Darla to the jet.

Right after he finished, the robot destroyed the car and the tank behind with another strike. We all ran inside and got strapped into place. "Here we go! Everyone ready!" the pilot yelled.

But he wasn't going to wait for an answer. He turned the fighter jet away from the robot and we were airborne at supersonic speed. Just as we were lifting off, I felt an explosion behind us as if someone had shot us from the ground.

"Rear left tire has been hit!" the pilot yelled. "And the left rear back wing!" he looked at us. "It's going to be a bit bumpy but we're going to make it!"

He went at the controls and he and his co-pilot pulled down on several small levers that were aligned next to each other. I felt something pull me back as we went to supersonic speed, breaking the sound barrier.

Within a few minutes we arrived at the Palace, landing on the landing pad on the roof. We all jumped out, as two Palace Guards greeted us and helped carry Darla and Lilia down to the Bunker.

Of course, it would've been stupid for any of us to have asked what do to. "Spiny, get the Terra-Track!" Larry yelled as we got off the jet.

I grabbed the cube, which was now glowing with a potent dark blue, the white center now gone. I made my way to join Larry down the tunnel system that led to the Bunker. Before I had a chance to, a small version of the fifty-foot robot appeared before me and knocked the Terra-Track out of my hand.

It landed ten feet away and I made a run for it. I fingered it, just before the human-sized robot pulled me by the feet and swung me over, knocking the back of the head hard against the roof.

Everything started spinning and I felt weak, very weak. I tried calling out for help, but the impact on the back of the head had knocked my speaking abilities completely. I managed to see the robot running off with the Terra-Track, and I felt like it was the end.

Larry popped out of nowhere and fired an RPG at the robot, turning it into a pile of cinders and ashes. He grabbed the cube before it impacted the ground and destroyed everything around us.

He placed the Terra-Track near my head and…I immediately felt full of energy and the headache and dizziness vanished! I didn't say or ask anything. Larry handed me the Terra-Track and we went down the tunnel.

When we landed in the Bunker, one of the guards ran to us and said, "Good! Everyone is here! The medical staff are looking at your girlfriend, Your Majesty. And we found a robot coming down the Bunker also, behind you."

Talk about good news. I pushed them aside and went to the medical staff, where Lilia had been placed on a soft, foam bed. She had her eyes closed and the blood dripped from her arm and her back.

"She will live, sir. But the burn on her back needs to be treated before it gets infected. We had no anesthetic so we had to knock her out. With a hammer."

"You did WHAT?!"

"There was no time even if we did have anesthetic, sir!" the doctor said. "We sent the rest of the girls and Prince Gredard into the next room, as we have nowhere else to operate. You may want to wait by the door."

It would've been a good suggestion. Except that we heard an explosion outside the door, then the firing of bullets and someone pounding on the Bunker doors, trying to force them open.

"We have to move into the next unit!" Larry yelled.

"Get out of here!" the guard yelled.

The doors were forced open by a fiery explosion, knocking us all down and shaking the entire room.

We were now completely exposed to the enemy.

And there was nothing to shield us from his deadly weapon.


	16. Chapter 16

"Hey, look!" Larry yelled.

I didn't want to. I wouldn't be able to stand the sight of my loved ones being killed in cold blood. I'd let him kill me blind. I didn't care.

"Spiny, it's okay. It's just one of our guards. I think you'll be pleased to see what he has." I removed my hands from my eyes. I still didn't see anything because…well, I had them closed aside from having them covered.

"Open your eyes, you coward!" Larry shouted.

I finally commanded my eyelids to burst open. The guard had some still coming from his gun and his clothes. And in his left hand, he was carrying what was left of the robot. The little one, of course. Who knows what damage the huge one was still causing.

But at least we'd caught one and that was a step in the right direction.

"Is…is it dead?"

The guard nodded. "Yes, sir!"

He let the metallic bust of the robot fall to the ground. Larry scurried over to inspect it. "Spiny, I see the IEO logo on this."

"Really? So it does mean they're after the Terra-Track?"

"It confirms it. What I don't understand is why one of the leaders or main generals came? Why did they send a small robot army on their behalf? It doesn't make sense."

Roger dusted himself off and pushed his hair behind his ears. "You think something else is up? Like, suspicious?"

"Mmm. I'm not certain. But I am somewhat sure that something's not right here."

Patty was still standing on the ground, holding Greeny. "But…how did they find out we were in possession of that thing?"

Larry shrugged. "I have no idea. I knew they would find out. But I just don't know how. If they knew all these years that it was down there, why didn't they attack before? Why did they wait until now to do it?"

"That's what's bugging you?" Rudy asked.

Larry nodded slowly, still staring off into space and lost in deep thought. "That and a lot of other things I'm not quite sure of."

"Are you planning on finding out?" Robert asked.

"If it will guarantee the safety of Amarkia and the Terra-Track, then yes, I guess I will have to take risks, won't I? Then again, we all have to take risk to protect those we love."

"Can't you get rid of that thing?" said Kathy. "It's causing a lot of trouble!"

"No, I can't just throw it down the trash!" Larry responded, sounding angry and agitated. "Do you realize what will happen if the IEO or the Red Eyes get ahold of this?" he said, holding up the cube to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.

"If they got hold of this and put it to use…it would mean the end of everything. I don't just mean Earth, but the entire universe! And all the other universes! All the dimensions would cease to exist. Can you comprehend that?"

No one answered. Another guard walked in and said, "All clear, sir. You can come out!"

We all walked out of the Bunker, except for Darla and Lilia who were still behind being treated by the Doctor.

He went up the flights of stairs to the ground floor and out the door. Things didn't look too bad if you ask me. Of course, nobody did. Anyways, the scenery didn't look like it had come close to destruction.

"Well, I guess we're safe. For now at least," said Dimetroodon.

Just then, we heard the air raid sirens starting to sound. "Don't cry victory yet!" Larry said. We heard a low, deep rumbling as the ground shook and animals took for shelter. A dark shadow cast over the city.

The IEO spaceship was enormous. I was probably half the size of the entire city. It had hundreds of moving parts and lots of small flashing blue lights. I heard screaming from far way. But I heard no explosions or shooting. The only sound was the screaming and the rumbling the spaceship was causing.

"Sir, all the electricity in the southern region of Amarkia has gone out!" a guard said.

"That's what's probably causing the screaming. At least for those who haven't seen the spaceship yet."

Then we witnessed a great spectacle. The massive IEO spaceship in front of us suddenly exploded! It just went KA-BOOM! Everything was incinerated, vaporized, or disintegrated into pieces.

At first I breathed a sigh of relief. But it all changed when I saw what had caused the IEO spaceship to be destroyed. The Red Eye ship was HUGE. This one was larger in size than the city and its suburbs. It had a sinister-looking shield and it had a laser strong enough to wipe out Sauropolis in two seconds.

It hovering over us like a bloodthirsty bird of prey, taunting and terrorizing its prey with its awesome power before making the kill.

The air raid sirens were still going, but I'm not sure how useful they were going to be. I looked at Larry. "Give an order. Send all civilians to the City Bunker System. We are under a Level-5 Red Alert."

Larry turned to the guard. "You heard the man! Inform the authorities."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

The behemoth spaceship started unraveling, with several reptilian-like robotic creatures arising from its skin and crawling all over it. Then, one of them shot a massive laser and it destroyed three skyscrapers in Sauropolis instantly.

Smaller Red Eye fighters started coming out and began firing down randomly on everything and anything. "We need backup! Get the entire Air Force and all aerial units of the Army and Navy!" Larry yelled into his walkie-talkie.

I just happened to look behind me and…uh-oh. "Larry, what's that?" I said, yelling over the noises of destruction.

"What's what?"

"There's another ship coming in!" I said.

Larry's head turned towards where my finger was pointing. Another sinister-looking galactic aircraft was moving towards us. "Holy crap! It's another IEO spaceship!" He started looking in all directions. "We…we're stuck between the two!"

"Um…Larry? What should happen in the IEO and the Red Eyes start fighting each other to see who gets us?"

His eyes got huge and I could see a lump on his throat going down. "Uh….I vote they auto-destroy each other."

The IEO spaceship was now directly above us, lowering a giant, flat-headed, metallic object hanging from its underside. We heard a loud humming and things started being lifted in the air; cars, trash cans, tire irons, chains, and other pieces of metal. I caught the Terra-Track just in time before it was also lifted.

"I don't know about you," I yelled to Larry as the skies darkened due to both ships blocking out the sunlight. I mean, they were both enormous! I think gargantuan would be a definitive term. I continued, "But I vote they destroy the Red Eyes first. At least we can handle IEO more easily!"

As if on cue and in mock, one of the reptilian-robots on the Red Eye ship jumped onto the IEO ship and bit into one of its wings. The instant it did that, the entire ship went up into thousands of pieces and the robot was also destroyed along with it.

Red Eyes don't care about dying themselves. Just as long as they kill the enemy. Even the IEO doesn't do that. I'm sure the Red Eyes are somehow linked or are what's left of The Great Conglomerate Larry was talking about earlier.

Now, the Red Eyes had no competition for the bounty, so to speak. A shaft opened beneath the ship and something dropped out of it onto the street with thud, causing a large tremor. At first I thought it was a plasma bomb and that would the end of it. But as I got a better look, I saw it was something. It was someone.

The guy was about eight feet tall and had sinister gray eyes and massive muscles. A mass of metal dropped at his feet and a giant iridium-exoskeleton started forming around him. Iridium. Only Red Eyes use iridium in their armor.

He took out a giant gun and pointed at us. "Say, cheese!" he yelled, laughing manically.

There was no way any of our weapons or shields would protect us. Red Eye technology was far superior that Amarkian. And there was not time to call the Space Armies. I did the first thing that came my mind, not even knowing what it was.

"Larry, give me the Terra-Track!" I said.

"What?"

"Just do it!" I yelled. He handed it to me, and I grabbed a proton gun that was lying at my feet. I took out all the proton bullets and placed the cube near the casing. "Just hope this works!" I loaded the gun, closed my eyes and pulled the trigger.

The cube suddenly got very hot and my palm started searing form the intense burning. But I didn't let go of it. I felt the sweat pouring down my forehead and down to the tip of my nose. Then the Terra-Track started vibrating intensely and I felt a sudden beam of energy flowing from me. I dared to open my eyes to see.

A massive white-blue beam of energy penetrated into the metallic armor and a giant flash followed. The Red Eye captain ceased to exist. For a few moments I stood there completely agape. Did…did I just kill a Red Eye captain? I mean, did I just kill…an actual Red Eye?!

Before, no one ever believed Red Eyes could be killed.

I didn't waste any time. I pointed my new weapon above me. The entire underside of the Red Eye mothership shot out flames and within seconds the entire metallic mass disintegrated.

I turned to Larry was literally in a state of shock. "Larry…we…we did it! We destroyed a Red Eye mothership! We got rid of those bastards!"

He shook his head and kind of stuttered. "Wha…what just happened?"

I was all prepared to celebrate victory until a giant explosion blasted us both to the ground, raising a massive cloud of dust. My eyes stung with tears and I felt my throat suddenly get dry. I lost grip on the Terra-Track and it rolled several yards down the street.

I got up, trying not to lose my balance because everything was spinning. I grabbed onto a nearby car and waved my hand to clear the dust. About 100 feet in front of me, the cube was in the black hand of a Red Eye.

My heart jumped into my throat and I was sure he could see it pounding against my skin. "Give that back!" I know it was stupid of me to do what I did. I ran towards him completely unprotected and he knew that.

I suddenly felt a piercing pain in my left elbow and collapsed on the ground. Hot blood started fountaining from where he had shot me and I suddenly felt my entire body crying in pain. The Red Eye left me there to bleed to death and ran to his helicopter.

By now, the entire 5th and 9th squadron of the Amarkian Royal Air Forces had arrived and they all started firing on the helicopter as it was taking off.

Larry came behind me and helped me get up. "What…they shot you."

"The cube…"

"What? Where is it?"

"They have it. You have to get it back!" I wasn't worried about a gun wound on the elbow. That could be taken care of. But the fate of the entire universe and all that it contained…that was a different matter.

Just as the helicopter was taking off, the side doors opened and someone threw something at us. "Get inside! Get inside the car!" Larry pointed at the abandoned car next to us.

I didn't ask why. I just did it. A terrible explosion ripped the doors off the car and sent the vehicle flying down the street, rolling. All the blood rushed out of my head and I felt my face go pale. When the car came to a stop, my vision was still rolling. I quickly busted down a door that had survived and vomited.

Warm blood was now staining the back of the car and my entire left sleeve. Fire was now raging across the street. As I stood up to take a closer look around me, the entire front section of the Palace Walls and the Gates were gone. The front windows of the Palace were shattered and all the trees in the area were flattened.

Every house and even the bridge on the west side was gone.

"The Terra-Track. They threw it at us," Larry said. Then he pointed about 40 feet in front of us. The blue-white flow was still strong and steam came off the cube. Larry jumped on it and put it away before someone else took it.

My eyes then fell upon Lilia's house across the street.

It was gone.


	17. Chapter 17

The agony and pain in my body was now exasperated by fear. I did not even want to imagine what would happen to Lilia if she lost her entire family. I'd already been through that and it's an incomprehensible feeling.

The last thing I wanted was for Lilia to slip into a deep depression that would take hundreds or thousands of years to recover from. And I already knew that she was of very delicate nature and was easily hurt by much less traumatic experiences.

Despite the fire now shooting from my elbow and the blood that still dripped from my soaked sleeve, I ran towards the rubble that used to be the Wood's home, using the last bit of energy I had left in me.

For once, Larry didn't try to stop me. I guess he understood my feelings or was just reading my thoughts. I didn't even have to say a word to him or vice versa. We both started pulling parts of plaster, bricks, wood, beams, and tiles aside, searching for any signs of life. I removed a piece of smashed plastic that had shards of glass all over it.

A piece of what used to be….I don't even know what! I don't even care!

I was about to give up when I heard a pained groan. A male's voice. Larry heard it also. We both ran to the other side of the section of the house we'd been inspecting. I managed to see a pile of bricks heaving. "There! Someone's under that!" I yelled.

As Larry and I pulled the bricks off and removed the plaster, I heard the sounds of ambulance sirens in the distance and dozens of hospital helicopters started buzzing overhead, accompanied by fighter jet escorts. I guess no one was taking chances in losing more people.

When we had removed all the rubble, I saw Mr. Woods' face. His eyes were large and empty. The skin on his face was pale and when I reached to touch it, I quickly drew my hand back. The skin was cold. Bone-cold. I started panicking. "Oh, my…oh, my god! Larry, he's in shock! Call an ambulance! Quick!"

Larry grabbed the phone out of my pocket and dialed 777. That's the number for emergency services in Amarkia. "Hello? Yes? This is King' Spiny's Chief Advisor, Larry. Yes, we need….what?! What do you mean hold?! I don't have time! I know there are! Just…just…we…you…will you shut up?! Get a chopper over here! Yes, we do have an emergency! A man was injured when his home was struck by the Red Eyes. He's in shock. Okay, okay."

After hanging up, Larry said, "He just told us to loosen any tight clothing and to cover him with something and to move him as little as possible. Check his breathing!"

I brought my face close to Mr. Woods' mouth and felt a weak but present breath of air. "He's breathing!" I pressed my ear against his chest. "And he's still got a heartbeat."

Larry sighed in relief. "Oh, good! That means…" he looked down to his legs. "Oh. My. God."

"What is it?"

Larry had frozen stiff and his eyeballs were enormous. I saw where he was looking, on Mr. Woods' left leg. Right where his shin would be, a two-by-four was sticking through completely.

I felt sick all of the sudden and quickly turned away. In the brief glimpse I'd caught, you could see white-yellow ends of shattered bone sticking out and torn muscle and cartilage were pointing out in all directions. The piece of wood had become maroon from all the blood.

If this man doesn't get to a hospital in ten minutes…he's going to die. It doesn't matter if it's shock, blood loss, or infection. But he WILL die.

My grim thoughts were halted when I heard a woman's voice say, "Please…get me out! Help please!" Lilia's mom.

Larry said, "You go see if you can get her out. I'll stay here to look out for him until the chopper arrives." I still had my face turned away and my eyes closed. I quickly nodded, trying to not throw up. As I walked away, Larry said, "Spiny. They're going to be all right. They'll be in the hospital soon and they'll recover."

I tripped over to where the voice had come from under a flat sheet of roofing. At least this time it was no trouble removing it. Lilia's mom was pinned down at the shoulder by what looked to be the corner of a kitchen countertop. She had a huge and quite nasty gash on her forehead.

She didn't look pale or feel cool to the touch, so that probably meant that she wasn't in shock. At least not yet. She had blood pouring out of her left hand, which was under a pile of bricks. I removed them to see if I could see if I could be able to stop the bleeding.

Then I saw I wouldn't be able to.

Her left hand was missing. She had no left hand.

There was nothing but a bloody, fraying stump with wrist bones cracked and gleaming in the daylight.

It was too much for me.

I quickly turned around and vomited again on the rubble of their house.

It wasn't that I was selfish or anything, but I had no desire to do any more rescuing. I'd leave that to professional rescuers. My stomach and my mind wouldn't be able to take any more graphic scenery.

A few minutes we heard the familiar sound of helicopter blades whirring above us. The white and red aircraft lowered a rescue net with a cot and a man in an orange vest and blue cap came sliding down.

After carried both of them up and flew away, I suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Larry. I just thought of something."

"What?"

"What about Elijah, Micah, and Rebecca?"

He gasped. "The basement!"

"Wait, they have a basement?"

"Yeah, I just remember. Because once, when you and Lilia went down there I followed you to spy on you. But that's not important. I know in what part of the house it is."

Larry jumped over the debris and led me several feet to the northwest side of the house. He clawed at the bricks, wood, and plastic until he hit a metallic door. Even though the house had been of two-stories and well-sized, the blast was strong enough to leave only a thin layer of rubble with the floor directly beneath it.

Larry knocked on the door and yelled. "Anybody there? It's me, Larry. Is someone down there?"

The metal doors busted open, and Elijah walked out. I was almost stunned to see him. I guess it's because he was the first one I'd seen lately without severe or life-threatening injuries besides Larry and myself. Not that I was doing so hot myself. I still had the gunshot wound.

"Larry? Spiny?" He looked all around to see what was left of this home. "What happened?"

"Red Eyes. We were attacked. They almost destroyed the entire street. Where's Micah and Rebecca?"

"They're down," he pointed down the basement. "Where are my parents?"

Larry answered, probably knowing that I was in no condition to speak about that. "They were just taken by a medical helicopter to the hospital."

"Hospital? What? What's wrong with them?"

Larry took a deep breath. I guess this was taking a toll, even on him. "I'm going to be honest with you, Elijah. Your dad was in shock and he had a piece of wood impaled into his lower left leg."

I heard Elijah gasping.

"And your mom has a nasty gash on her forehead and somehow, her left hand was chopped off."

"Chopped off?! How? Who's done this? What about Lilia? Where's Lilia?"

"She had some gunshot wounds on her left arm and a severe burn injury on her back."

Then, Elijah did something I'd never expected out of the sarcastic, joker guy who would tease Lilia and me when we were together. His eyes flashed with rage and he made a lunge for me.

His grabbed my throat and started crushing my windpipe. "You did this! This is all your fault! You brought them here! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!"

Larry pulled him away from me and held him back. "Stop that, Elijah! This is nobody's fault! Spiny saved your sister from certain death. The Red Eyes and the IEO don't need a reason to murder and terrorize innocent people. Now, you and your siblings are coming with us down the Bunker. Lilia is being treated and Spiny also suffered a gunshot wound and has to be attended before he dies."

I know that he was saying all that to calm Elijah down. But everything started to race in my mind. What if I do die? What if Lilia's parents die? What if she dies? Then Elijah will be right. It will all be my fault.


	18. Chapter 18

"What are the losses?" the Supreme Commander asked in a highly concerned tone. The Principal Secretary of the organization sat down and handed him several sheets of paper. None of them were without mass killings of forest and civilizations.

"Quite heavy, Supreme Commander Nexxoramus," the Principal Secretary answered.

"So…Amarkia now has the Terra-Track. And the Red Eyes didn't even give us a chance to have even a little fun."

The dark, heavy feeling of emptiness was not new. They were, after all, so far from any celsestial object. No one had idea of their origin or where they came from, but since he had memory, Nexxoramus always remembered that this is where he belonged.

He had grown up and followed in the footsteps of the Great Eternal Leader of the IEO, his main role model, and the greatest rival and enemy of the Amarkian Royal Family and of all those who were for justice and peace in the universe.

It had been 3,500 years since Amarkia had embarrassed the IEO at the Galactic Battle of Thelssos. He was known by his closest friends and subordinates as Ecthros Antipalos; his Amarkian name. But by almost everyone else, he was simply known as Rexy.

Though his common name was far less sinister, it didn't lessen what he had done. It was him who was often impugned with the death of King Agape and his Queen. However, to Nexxoramus' knowledge, there had been no evidence of that.

Most wrote it off as simply a rebellion instigated by disgruntled relatives of the Royal Family and other rebel groups.

Nevertheless, when Rexy died in battle, Nexxoramus was chosen as the Supreme Commander of the Intergalactic Evil Organization. Though everyone criticized him by saying that the name was in no way fear-instigating, he had ignored them all.

Now thousands of years later, he was known at his young age as being even more notorious than his idol.

But Nexxoramus would not rest until he knew that Amarkia and its allies were exterminated form the universe and he could rule it in the way that Rexy had only dreamed of.

But even if they did manage to do that, they would still have to deal with a much more deadly and ominous force: Red Eyes.

The Red Eyes attacked everyone and everything. They made no allies and betrayed all those who had attempted it. They often attacked many main bases and planets belonging to the IEO.

They didn't need a reason or a provocation to attack.

They just did.

"So what do you suggest?" he asked the members of Board of Directors sitting across from him.

"We obviously are in no position to attack at the moment," one of them said.

"Yes, if we do, we would provoke the Red Eyes. And the last thing we want is more trouble from them. They already destroyed two of our greatest space fighters," said another member.

"We cannot afford another great loss if we are to retrieve the Terra-Track from Amarkia. And even without the Red Eyes, Amarkia is still a formidable force to deal with," another said.

"What do you propose doing?" Nexxoramus asked.

The Leader of the Board arose from his seat. "We recommend waiting out. We are almost certain that the Red Eyes are preparing an even deadlier attack in the next few hours or even minutes. We wait for them, then we'll just scavenge what's left."

They all nodded. "You are wise, Supreme Commander. May the spirit and memory of Lord Ecthros Antipalos be with you and guide you in his steps to take this organization to glory in the universe."

85 million light-years from Earth

Red Eye Galactic Base #56

Section IV, Sector 17

Council Chamber Meeting

The champagne cork went flying into the next room out into deep space. Cheers and applauses filled the room. "Well, gentlemen," the Council Chief said pouring the blood champagne into the organ-class cups. "We may not have acquired the Terra-Track from those thieves."

"But we did manage to leave our footprint, didn't we?" said the Military Advisor.

"We sure did. A toast, gentlemen."

They all raised their glasses. "In the memory of our ancestors' organization, The Great Conglomerate, to success in restoring their name to be rulers of the universe, and to the death of King Spiny and the end of Amarkia and, if we want to, of Earth itself."

They all cheered and drank.

"So, what now?" said the Financial Administrator.

"Well, we scared them. What more?" the Council Assistant Chief asked in glee. "And we killed and injured dozens. What more can we ask for?"

"Yes, but we didn't kill the King or his Family. Even the Palace managed to escape with only broken windows and slight roof damage."

"Oh, don't worry, dear boy," the Council Chief said. "Our Great Emperor, Igétis, will be pleased with what we've done. No doubt he will soon command us to launch another attack on that worthless blue jewel, Earth."

The doors burst open and all council members trained their supernova semi-automatic guns on the messenger, Atholet. "Sir, sir! Emperor Igétis has given the order! Operation Requite is now underway! All the generals and commanding military officers are preparing!"

The Council Chief turned his gaze to his fellow member. "What did I tell you? Chief Tatitamte!" he said to the Military Advisor.

"Sir!"

"Order 5,000 thousand of our best military spaceships and order 5 million troops! Set a course for Earth! This will definitely please our Great Emperor."

"Sir, yes, sir!" He extended out both hands, bringing his thumbs together, then forming a triangle with his other fingers. He then said the Red Eye Salute, "Live the memory The Great Conglomerate! Prosperity in the universe! Down with all those who oppose us!"

He marched out the room, the Council Chief, pleased with himself as he drank the last sip of fermented blood.

The Palace, Amarkia, Earth

"Ow! That hurts, you know?" I yelled at the doctor.

"I know it does, believe me. A gunshot wound is no small bandage job." When he finished and wrapped a gauze around my elbow he stood up. "Very well. That should hold it. Just keep it that way for about two weeks or so."

"What about Darla and Lilia?" I asked.

"They'll do fine. Darla can go home, but Lilia will have to be kept down in the Bunker Medical Room. She sedated now. So she just needs tons of rest. Let me know if you need anything."

After he left I got up and started for the kitchen. This may sound crazy but after all that action nearly dying I was starving. As I was making myself a sandwich, Larry walked in. "Spiny, I've got news."

"Good or bad?"

"Terrible."

"I don't want to know."

"You need to."

"Just say it then!"

He took a deep breath. "Okay…there are five thousand Red Eye spaceships on the way to Earth. We just picked them up on our Space Radar."

They're coming back.

For what they want.


	19. Chapter 19

I don't have claustrophobia, but I never could get used to spending hours in the Bunker. A metallic room about a hundred feet below ground levels with no way of seeing the outside world.

And even though it was the safest place in Amarkia and I could continue to rule it in the event of an emergency, it was still uncomfortable. I guess it's just the sensation of being so hidden.

A nurse of the medical staff came out and said to me, "You say her know, Your Majesty. She's just coming out of sedation. But she'll need plenty of rest so you only have ten minutes."

I got up from my seat on the cold floor and entered the Medical Room. She was stretched out on a typical white hospital room. I walked up to her and took her hand in mine. "Hey," I whispered to her.

She opened her eyes and said groggily, "Uh…what? Where am I?"

"You're in the Bunker."

"What happened?"

I gently ran my hand through her silky, brown hair and caressed my thumb against her cheek. "That doesn't matter know. You're alive and that's what counts. I just wanted to see you for a little while."

She was coming more awake now. "Where…where you going?"

"I have to do some things. But I'll be back in a few hours." I brought my face down near hers and I kissed her. "I love you," I whispered to her.

"I love you," she managed to say. I kissed her again then exited the Bunker and went upstairs to the third floor into the Military Planning Room. I had some serous scores to settle with lots of bastards and jerks.

Larry was already there, staring at the monitors and radar screens. "How is she?" he asked.

"She's doing better. Just needs some rest."

He nodded and sat down on his observation chair, as he liked to call it. "There's something I need to tell you. The Terra-Track is no longer on Amarkia. It's not on this planet."

"W-what?! You mean…someone did steal it?"

"No! Of course not. We just moved it to another location. These attacks from the IEO and the Red eyes have been too brutal. We've already lost 160 citizens and several more are severely injured. We nearly lost one of our own."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, okay. Yeah, that's a smart move. Where'd you move it to?"

"In Section C-53 of Quarter 3. In simple English…Pluto."

The water I'd been drinking sprayed out all over his face. "You…you moved the Terra-Track to Pluto?!"

"It was the best place I could think of. For now. We have a sizeable military base there. There's about 20,000 thousand troops stationed there. But the Red Eyes are still on their way here. At the rate they're going, they might be in a few days. A week at the most."

I didn't exactly jump of the idea of a cube of energy of infinite and endless supply of energy that all the forces in the universe were hungry for were was on a small, frozen and dark planet that was barely defended by a thousand of our Space Armed Forces Units.

"Well, I'd feel better if we had more powerful defenses," I said to Larry.

"You want me to summon the Space Armies?"

I thought about it. The Space Armies had technology also superior to our own, but were much quicker than the Red Eyes and could travel thousands of light-years in a matter of minutes. They were the only ones who had never been defeated by the Red Eyes.

But I didn't want to further provoke things. If the Red Eyes found out we had asked the Space Armies…I feared that thought.

"Well…just tell them to be on Standby. In Minutemen Mode. And tell the same to all the other armies from the other dimensions."

He nodded and turned around to the massive monitors on the wall. He typed some keys and spoke into the microphone. "Base Q-R8. Base Q-R8. This is Amarkia. Amarkia calling Base Q-R8. Come in please!"

There was silence for a few seconds, then a voice said, "Amarkia this is Base Q-R8. Yes, we heard you loud and clear, sir."

"Amarkia is under a Lever 4 Red Alert threat. Major attack from IEO and/Red Eyes expected very soon. Cause is the Terra-Track. We already have casualties and heavy physical damages. Requesting that all units be on Standby. Minutemen Mode. Repeating, all armies be on alert for major attack."

"Request accepted, sir. Yes, that's affirmateive. We've been observing everything on radar. We will be ready. The line will remain open 24/7 until we hear you."

"Thank you. This is Amarkia, over."

"Base Q-R8. Over and out."

Larry turned to me. "Well, you feel a lot better now?"

"A little better, not a lot. I still feel somewhat uprotected. You sure those 20,000 men can defend the Terra-Track?"

Before he answered, I saw a red light flashing on the monitor. He quickly grabbed the phone and started calling about three or four people. He was frantic. I could see him shivering. I'd say he was sweating, but dinosaurs don't sweat.

With a face of horror, he said to me. "Pluto is gone."

"What?!"

"Our base was attacked. Pluto has been destoyed. There's nothing left but floating pieces of ice and rock. All of our troops were killed."

"What? What happened? How did the Red Eyes get here so fast?"

He shook his head. "It wasn't the Red Eyes. It was the Red Criminal."

This was another main member of the IEO. And no, he is not red in color or eyes or anything. He's just named Red Criminal and has nothing to do with the Red Eyes. I've actually never seen him.

He doesn't usually reveal himself. In fact, he's almost never present in his attacks. He usually just sends out his armies to do it. Although, just like all other members of the IEO, he does have something that distinguishes him. Something that others consider "unique and brilliant."

Red Criminal invented the Self-Guided Bullets. Now don't undersestimate the name. They are much deadlier than what you think. We have something similar called the Spiked Bombs. In both cases, when the weapon is fired, the projectile aquires a target and follows it for miles and miles until it raches it. And it doesn't matter if you go behind a door or a rock or a wall. It will go through it and not explode until it hits you.

And all his armies are equipped with that.

Can you imagine thousands of soldiers with that kind of offensive?

"And…where is the Terra-Track?" I asked Larry.

"We managed to teleport it to another spot. I dare not say because I'm afraid that something will happen. The important thing is that it has not fallen in enemy hands. For now. And if Red Criminal has not on the move…

"What aobut other memebers of the IEO? Like Hopper-Popper?" I asked.

"Ha! I would not be surprised if he was some part of a secret operation to get the Terra-Track."

Hopper-Popper is a master of illusion and disguise. Though he is not a magician he certainly talks, acts, and dresses like one. One time, hundreds of years back when he was causing really trouble, he managed to "kill him."

But when he buried him, we forgot to destroy his blacktop hat. And when we removed the hat, the body was gone. He had escaped and we haven't seen him since. We doesn't usually cause life-risk problems but he is really a pain in the neck.

But if one member of the IEO was capable of destroying a single planet…what could the Red Eyes be capable of doing?

"Spiny, if the Red Eyes wage full war against us, it's going to be a long, bloody, gruesome, and costly war."

"How costly?"

"Extremely costly. I'm talking of half of our entire army and about 25% of our population killed. And Amarkia is too small a country to hold up against bombings. A full-on attack would devastate the nation and take centuries to recover."

I sighed. I wasn't going to give up this easily. Not anymore. I was terrified of the Red Eyes but I wasn't about to let that morbid fear get in the way of my objectives. "If we can't defeat the Red Eyes on the battlefield, is there some other way?"

"You mean…like, psychological pressure or something?"

"Well, weapons are definitely out of the question. They have lasers ready to destroy planets and force-field destroyers. Plasma lasers and black hole bombs are a favorite they use. They wouldn't hesitate in killing the entire Earth just to get the Terra-Track."

"We have to find a weakness. Something, anything," I said.

"The Red Eyes? I'm not sure they have any weaknesses. As a matter of fact, I'm sure they don't."

"Don't give me that. Every single villain or group of villains have some weakness. It's a universal rule. The Red Eyes, as malicious and brutal as they are, must have something. Some flaw in their armor. We have to find that weakness and use that to our advantage."

He started thinking. He stared at the wall and his eyes narrowed as his brain concentrated. "Well, as for the IEO, there is a lot of corruption within them. And I don't mean just plain corruption. I mean the kind that would threaten their own existence. There are a lot of ex-members and disgruntled current members who have started to form their own factions."

I nodded. "What about the Red Eyes?"

"That's…that's pretty much mission impossible."

I was getting quite antsy. I didn't want to hear him say that, even if it was the truth. "Come on Larry, think! You lived among the Red Eyes for thousands of years in the other dimensions. Can't you think of anything?"

"Well…" he brought his finger beneath his chin. "One thing about them: they have no real need for the Terra-Track. They have hundreds of stars and they basically already have an unlimited supply of energy. They just want the Terra-Track to make insane weapons like the Anti-Force Field Laser."

He got up and started pacing. "However…there is one thing, actually two things that they really love but that is in finite amounts."

"What is that?" I said, scratching the area around my bullet wound. I was hoping that it was just an itch and not infection. If not, I'd die for sure.

"They love silicon. It's like their fossil fuel. They use it for everything non-military. And they are obsessed with iridium. And we do know they are in possession of other unknown metals found only on asteroids, comets, and meteors."

My mind started racing when he said that. I suddenly started getting tons of premises and hypotheses. "So, what you're saying is that instead of a military attack, we should…"

"Sabotage. Yes, sabotage. Find a way to cut off their resources. It may owkr. We certainly cannot instigate an uprising amongst their civilians."

I snorted. "Ha! Yeah, that would be suicide."

He shook his head. "Not only would that be suicide, but it would be futile. The civilians wouldn't be willing."

I was quite shocked by what he said. I mean, if you're living in a country where your government and your military are constantly attacking, murdering and exterminating innocent people from other countries, wouldn't you start hating them? Wouldn't you begin a popular uprising?

Larry answered those mental questions by saying, "The Red Eyes are a sick, disgusting, and weird kind of evil group. They kill all prisoners and criminals, even for minor crimes like speeding. And they genetically modify their children at birth so that they love the system no matter what."

"But what about those who have been loyal a long time? Don't they do anything to them?" I asked.

In disgust, he said, "They don't torture most rebellious civilians. They brainwash them or smack them with propaganda to make them embrace and love how evil they are. And it works. One hundred percent of all Red Eye civilians are against us and want us all dead too."

Wow…despicable, evil, murderous, and sadist don't even come close to describing how wicked the Red Eyes are. Diabolical comes a little close but even that…I mean, these are worse than Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, North Korea, Panem, the Galactic Empire, and the First Order all combined!

That's no exaggeration.

Billions of innocent lives and thousands of peaceful and even evil extraterrestrial life forms have gone extinct because of the Red Eyes.

Nevertheless, Larry and I seemed to have stumbled upon something. "So…if we can find a way to cut off their access to those resources…might it work?"

He resumed his pacing and started tapping, humming, and whispering to himself in Amarkian. "We have to keep in mind that despite all our successes and our technological and demographical advances, the Red Eyes have no envy of our way of life. None at all. All they worry is that we have the Terra-Track and some embarrassment that we've won some wars against them." He jumped. "Aha! I just thought of something!"

"What? What?"

"Pink."

I blinked my eyes and stared at him. "Excuse me?"

"Pink. They despise the color pink. But I don't think that's going to be enough, right?"

I groaned and face-palmed myself. "No, it won't! Now this is serious, Larry. We're talking about the fate of the entire universe!"

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. Now, let's see…they have a lot of suns for their planets. And I happen to know that for a fact, they do have limited food supplies. The planets they've conquered were originally uninhabitable wastelands. Some of them were deserts, or ice balls. Or with toxic soils. So if we could…"

I knew where he was heading. "So…if we could find a way to attack their resources, including iridium and other metals, then they would no longer have energy. And that could start a chain reaction and they would no longer have the energy to continue to manufacture weapons and other stuff. And eventually, the planets where they grow food would become hostile again!"

After remaining silent, he stared at me and I saw his eyes flashing with delight. "You know, that just might work!"


	20. Chapter 20

The Chief General slammed his fists against the table and yelled, "Have you gone mad?!"

"Sit, down, sir," Larry said from across the table.

"You are asking us to try to sabotage the Red Eyes' own sources of energy, and then try to attack them when they are in a so-called weaker state? Is that what you're asking?"

I nodded to him and the other military officials. "Yes, that's what I'm asking."

"That's suicide! You are becoming responsible for genocide!"

Then it was my turn to pound my fist against the table. "And I will become responsible for your removal in you continue to behave like that!" He became silent and sat back down. "We have waited too long and too many lives have been lost."

I sat back down and continued my explanation. "Now, Assistant Commander in-Chief Larry and I have discussed this for a long time and we both have concluded that it is time that we stop running with tails in between our legs. It's time we played offensive!"

"And what do you suggest?" asked the Secretary of Defense.

"Well, we have discussed the military tactics that both we and the Red Eyes have used since our friendship started. Now, first of all, how do the Red Eyes attack? What tactic do they usually use?"

"Well, they use hit-and-run attacks, mainly," said the Director of the Department of Domestic Security.

"And they also like to use quick and massive invasions," said the Secretary. "Kind of what the Nazis used. A form of blitzkrieg."

"Yes, except that when they make hit-and-run attacks they don't just attack in small groups. They use armies of thousands or more," Larry said. "Then, when they're on the leave, they use their most famous attack, the Synchronized Weapon."

The Synchronized Weapon is a notorious act of war invented and patented by the Red Eyes. Yes, you heard me. They even patented it. Yeah, they're crazy. Anyways, this form of warfare includes a highly complicated and you could say choreographed method. Basically what they do is that during the retreat, all tanks, planes, guns, and spaceships all come together into one giant mass and all fire at the same time.

Trust me; it's extremely ugly and highly destructive. We've lost entire armies in that way. And entire cities have been wiped off.

"You want to attempt that?" the General asked.

"We've tried to. Many times," the Secretary explained using hand gestures. "But so far, we've failed. Our planes come two seconds late, or the tanks aren't in position, etc. We just don't have time to practice to attempt that. It would take years!"

Ignoring his comment, I said, "But, this is our question…we've used traditional warfare tactics against the Red Eyes. But…has anyone else used the Red Eyes' own tactics against them?"

A silence fell over the room and everyone slowly stared at each other. "You mean…that we also use hit-and-run attacks, lightning invasions, and the Synchronized Weapon?"

Larry said, "I don't think it will work against the Red Eyes. I am sure that it will." Then his tone of voice changed to a more solemn one. "But remember one thing: the Red Eyes always, always attack…to kill. It has been 18.7 million years since they fought defensively when they arose of what was left of The Great Conglomerate."

"That long ago?" the Director asked. "What exactly happened?"

"They were just starting as a military power. And they weren't as powerful as they are now. I remember because I was in war against Rexy at the moment. He was the main threat before the Red Eyes. And a smaller nation recognized the potential threat from the Red Eyes, even though no one else had ever heard of them. So they attacked them. That's the only time the Red Eyes fought in defense mode."

I was agape, as this was the first time I'd ever heard this. "Really? I had no idea that ever occurred!"

"But that other nation…well, it didn't go too well for them. The Red Eyes had already sent double agents and had planted bombs all over the capitol city. All they had to do was press the buttons. The nation was destroyed in one day." He made a lengthy pause to let the fact sink in and make effect.

"Since then," he continued, "we knew that the Red Eyes would be a nuisance."

The General scoffed. "A nuisance? They are a grave threat to every single thing in the universe!"

"Not only that, but after achieving that victory that made them into a dangerous galactic superpower, all of the sudden, their females started laying hundreds of eggs at a time. And those babies were reaching maturity in less than a year. We discovered that in order to make their armies larger, they were using a modified growth hormone on all citizens. No exceptions. Even the Emperor uses them when he has children with one of his wives."

"What kind of hormone?" I asked

"We have no scientific term for it. Just a modified growth hormone that has no side effects other than helping the Red Eyes enlarge their empire."

"Where do they get it from?"

"From bones."

"Bones? What bones?"

He sighed and rested his hands on the table. "Another sickening part of their society. They unbury their dead, especially recent ones and extract minerals from the bone marrow. The part where blood cells are made."

My stomach got queasy and I felt the nausea returning to my mouth. I tried clamping my mouth shut as the General asked, "If their access in producing this hormone was interrupted, would it help weaken the system?"

"I'm not finished," Larry said. "We've also discovered something else in recent days. The agent who sent us this information was killed minutes after he sent the transmission." Larry sat straight up. "The Red Eye Empire is getting overcrowded. Think of this: two billion Red Eyes are born every year."

"Two billion per year?!" I asked, stunned.

"Not only that, but we have made calculations based on current food, water, and energy sources, the type of planets they reside on, and their financial state."

"And what did you find?" the Secretary asked, quite impatient. I understood him, but I wanted to be able to grasp every piece of information carefully.

"The total population in the entire Red Eye population is 200 billion. The maximum carrying capacity is 220 billion."

That means that…they would reach over their carrying capacity in just ten years! "So that means that…at one point or another, the overpopulation problem will get serious, food and energy will become in more demand but in less supply and…"

Larry finished. "Yes, it is possible, highly unlikely, but possible that the civilian population will get angry and frustrated. They are already suffering from an energy crisis. They keep needing more and more power for more things and at a lower cost, but they're not keeping tabs. And as far as we know, the central governmental has no plans. No emergency plan for a situation like this. They are unprepared for that."

Larry was about to speak when the phone on the desk started beeping red and he answered. "Yes, what? When? Yes, I'll tell him." When he hung up, he said, "Seventeen planets in the next galaxy have just been attacked."

"W-what?" I asked.

"Red Eyes. They just attacked. And now, they are gathering iridium from the rings on those planets. All the planets had rings."

"That's no coincidence!" said the General.

Larry was just sitting there, his hand in his palm. He looked puzzled. "I don't get it, though. Usually they exterminate all life forms. But though they killed all the intelligent life forms, they preserved all the trees and plants. And…our spy planes reported that they're even feeding the animals! Plus, our space radar indicates that their rockets are circling several nearby stars, even as close as Alpha Centauri."

The pieces of the puzzle were all suddenly falling into place. The riddle had been solved. I snapped my fingers and jumped out of my seat. "I got it! They're keeping the animals to get more bone marrow to keep making that hormone that makes that exaggerated population growth! They're expanding into new territories to avoid overpopulation! Can't you see? They're preparing those planets so that Red Eyes can inhabit them!"

Larry nodded his head slightly. "That's the only thing that can explain it."

"You may have something there, Your Majesty," said the Secretary.

"Yeah, I think I do. If we let them continue damaging their resources, and let them continue overpopulating, we can better attack or sabotage their energy resources! See? They'll be in a weaker stance to defend themselves."

They all nodded in agreement.

We had a plan. We knew what we had to do to bring justice to the universe. It was wrong to let evil ones go on unpunished. And we wouldn't have to fire a single weapon.

At least for the moment.


	21. Chapter 21

Red Eye Galactic Base #34

Sector III, Section 20

Somewhere near Alpha Centauri

The massive, cloaked mothership hovered over the heart of the planet system. The planets and bodies orbiting it seemed to be following even their commands today. Their sudden decision to conquer the new planets had been successful.

But there were many growing concerns about the ability of the Empire. Many in the Imperial System were getting worried that they were truly stretching the limits. Especially with these new 17 planets under their control.

"Too many people, sir," a Head Genetic Engineer had said to him. "And we have no more space for them."

The Commander of the mothership laughed. It had truly amused him. He knew for a fact that nothing would ever jeopardize the existence of the Red Eye Empire. In his deep thoughts, a young captain came to say, "Sir, I must say that the success of the conquest is really a great tribute to you. I am sure our Great Emperor Igétis will reward you generously."

Killing Spiny is enough reward for me. "Is the Military Chief here as I instructed?"

"Yes, sir. He's waiting outside right now."

"Tell him to come in. Afterwards you may leave back to your post. See that everything is still ready."

"Yes, sir." He marched away, his silicon armor boots clanking on the floor.

The Commander stared out into the sparkling white-dotted velvet of outer space. Alpha Centauri was the last stop before what everyone in the universe knew as Sector I, Section 1-A. The Solar System.

"You called for me, sir?"

He turned around to look at the soldier in his dark-cloaked suit. He then summoned all of the Army Sergeants. They knew the rule: No speaking in presence of the Military Chief and the Ship Commander when they are both present.

"We indeed have achieved a great moral victory in the galaxy. Yet, we must continue with our work. Listen carefully to my instructions."

"Yes, sir."

"I want you to get as many men down there, soldiers and civilian workers. We need to do a lot of things before we can make it adequate for our use. And send as many Scout Troopers as possible to the rings and moons of all planets to find iridium."

"Yes, sir."

"And, also this…on the entire western half of this planet we are near, I want you to mine for three things, and just these three. Iron, iridium, and silicon. That's all we are interested in. Am I clear?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Very well. You will be later instructed as what to do in order to retrieve the metals and give it to the proper authorities, as there have been some minor changes. Dismissed."

"Sir, yes, sir." He turned his gaze to the silent men listening. "All right, you heard the man! Let's get a move on it! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!"

When the sounds of their footsteps became distant he retired to the next chamber, all the advisors waiting impatiently. As soon as he sat down, he said, "So…what you gentlemen are saying is that we are running out of space?"

"Yes sir," the Chief Advisor answered.

"We have a limited food and energy supply that is being worsened by rapid population growth and these energy sources are vulnerable to subtle attacks."

The Commander was tempted to laugh twice at the same joke. Instead, he said, "I don't believe I've mentioned this, so I will say it. We had a similar problem, when I still wasn't in office and none of you young ones even existed. Your parents were not even a zygote. We needed life, so we did the logic thing: steal life. We do the same now. We steal life."

"From where sir?"

He opened a panel and the vast fabric of space appeared before them. "From out there. Plenty of it. There's plenty of life out there."

"Sir, we may have all that, but our lifelines are still quite vulnerable. And overpopulation continues to be a problem. What if…"

The Commander shot the advisor with a star Taser. "We. Are. Fine. We have no need to fear. We've conquered a galaxy in another dimension, even. How much life was in that galaxy? All of them were incredibly inhabitable for life. Just like the ones we just conquered. You don't know about this. But I do. It's a new chemical liquid/gas combination that has the ability to transform a toxic atmosphere into one plenty filled with nitrogen and oxygen. And it can make the soil fertile. We could even grow tropical plants on Neptune!"

"How new is this technology?" the Financial Advisor asked.

"Quite new. I was the first one to be informed. And in case you're wondering, they did make a counterattack. We have another," he said, raising a glowing red dart. "We also have one that instantly turns an atmosphere and its water and land so toxic and inadequate for life that its entire population will die within three minutes." He sneered as the red glow reflected off their red eyes. "We use it when a planet is…stubborn."

He turned his face away at a picture of Earth on the wall over the dartboard. He threw the dart and the picture instantly turned into a ball of green and gray lifeless rock. "We'll get more than what we ever wanted. So much more."

Sauropolis, Amarkia

Department of Emergency Handling

Larry had dragged me away from my lovely conversation with Lilia. I had no idea what had happened. All I knew is that it was a full-on red alert and it was critical. When we finally reached the office, everyone was running all over the place and screaming into phones.

"Sir," a soldier said running up to us. "Damages are very heavy. About 18% of all the forest in Russia is gone. And 15% of the grain in the world market has disappeared."

"Sir!" another one yelled across the room. "We've picked up anti-gravitational ships in the upper mesosphere."

"What in my father's name is happening?!" I yelled.

Larry had a look of complete horror. "The Red Eyes, they are attacking. Strangely, they are not killing, just stealing. Mostly trees, crops, livestock, and even ice. Antarctica just lost 10% of all its ice."

It's starting.

The war Larry had predicted.

Bloody…gruesome…long…highly costly…

If I'd only known just how costly it was going to be.


	22. Chapter 22

Amarkian Central Military Planning Chamber

Location: Classified

"So, what is our first step?" Larry asked, standing with the other high officials, about 30 of them or so.

"This is what I want to do," I said, laying out a graphics on the computer screen. "Before we do anything, I want to upgrade our entire weapons and defense system. We've neglected doing that because of recent tensions with Russia and North Korea. But none of that is relevant now. And we need to train our men to be able to successfully carry out the battle plan we've drawn up."

"You mean, hit-and-run attacks, quick invasions, and the Synchronized Weapon routine?" one of the officials asked.

I nodded my head. "That's right, sir. We already sent a draft to the Space Armies to gather as much manpower as possible. We got our reply just a few minutes before this meeting. We have close to 40 million young men ready."

"Forty million?!" another official said, astounded.

Larry turned to him and said, "And that's just now. We estimate that we'll have much more during the next several hours. It may be double or triple by this time tomorrow. Or even in eight hours. Or less."

"But before we launch any kind of attack, we have to do other things. We know the weaknesses, both from the IEO and the Red Eyes. We know that they have limited food supplies and that their energy sources are vulnerable."

Larry stood up next to me and started showing a computer simulation that he had created of our sabotage plan. "What we basically want is for two or three units of the Space Armies to come near the main planet's atmosphere in Cloak Mode, invisible by the naked eye and undetectable by radar." He began pacing. "Not only will this help us perform our sneak attacks, but it will also help us sabotage their iridium meteorites, or at least divert them away."

"And we also want to hack into their main electrical grid and most important supercomputers," I added.

"You want to hack the Red Eyes?! Like, with a virus? Or a bug?" the first official asked.

"A virus, bug, computer worm, a Trojan horse, anything that works."

"The King and I have come up with an idea. See if you agree. We will recruit all the best hackers from our prisons and in exchange for helping us defeat the Red Eyes, they get released, first on probation, then depending on their behavior, their complete release."

"You must be crazy!" the third official shouted.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Larry yelled. "And believe me we have carefully analyzed every single darned possibility. And so far, this plan is the only one that has a chance of working. Matter of fact, I'm certain that it will work!"

"All we need left is the right attitude. The determination that we will triumph. Besides, wouldn't you like to see the Red Eyes going into defense mode? Don't you want to see them running away for a change?" I said.

Main Red Eye Planet

Unknown distance from Earth.

Capitol City

"So, what do you think?" the General asked his main Advisor, both almost indistinguishable in their black-iridium armor.

"I don't know what to think, sir. To be frank, what should I think?"

"I have this sensation…I'd like to call it intuition, but I wouldn't be sure. That Amarkia and its allies are preparing something. I can sense it. They might try something different this time." He turned to the middle-aged Red Eye next to him. "So, you say that our energy sources are…exposed? Vulnerable?"

"That is affirmative, sir. And to make matters worse, that includes our electrical grid. It is way outdated and a simple virus is capable of shutting down the entire system. At least here in the city. And the cost to upgrade it all is…well, it's unimaginable."

"What exactly needs to be upgraded?" he asked, pacing around.

"Electrical grids, power plants, defense systems, our Galaxy-Wide Internet, etc. That's just a few items on the list. But I believe those are the most vital parts."

"Upgrade them. Now." He turned to face him again. "And don't worry about the cost. We can go and attack another rich alien civilization or steal from Earth like we stole those trees and ice sheets. Besides, I'm sure the Emperor Igétis will not mind."

The man sighed in frustration. "Sir, it's not the money that worries me. It's the time it will take us to upgrade all this. It could take several months or even a few years. Add to that out overpopulation problem and that time frame becomes significantly reduced."

"Don't worry about that now. The important thing is that we are ready for whatever Amarkia and its allies throw at us. Also referring to the main subject I came to speak to you about…"

"Yes, sir?"

His eyes gazed upon military uniforms in a glass case on the silicon walls. "What are our main battle tactics?"

The man laughed. "Sir, we all know that. It includes large hit-and-run attacks, quick invasions, and the famous Synchronized Weapon technique. We do plan on doing that, right?"

"Of course, of course. Except…I do want do to something different. I want some men...no, I ant half of our men to sneak into Amarkia."

"Sneak in, sir? The last time we attempted that, we lost 70 men in two minutes. They have tighter security than ever before."

"We're not going to attack. Not yet anyway. Just sneak them in, build secret fortifications and start eroding their system from within. Slowly." With his back to the advisor, he said, "But first, we'll have a little out here in the neighborhood, if you know what I mean."

"Sir?"

"Call the team of military engineers. Have them come and see me at once." He turned his iron glaze onto him. "It is of utmost importance that we carry out the first phase of my brilliant plan to squash Amarkia."

"Yes, sir." He ran, leaving the General alone with his figure and thoughts. "Oh, King Spiny…you will now feel what it truly feels like to be dead, even while alive. I'm going to personally see to it that you get hurt right where it hurts the most."

The team of engineers, all in their distinguishing red-black uniforms and masks entered the room and formed a line before the General, shouting the Red Eyes salute and gesture. "Sir, you asked to speak with us?" the Head Engineer asked.

"Yes. I think it's about time we used your genius and creativity to have a little fun. Are the self-guided missiles ready?"

He chuckled, an evil, ominous chuckle. "Yes, they are perfect. Too perfect. They'll have those missiles blowing their brains out before they even get a chance to load their weapons."

"Ah, perfect indeed!" the General replied, bringing his hands together in front of him. "Now, then. I suppose we do have your permission to begin utilizing them?"

"General, you have no need to ask. There's nothing I'd like to see more than Amarkia and its friends gone. But first, I would like to personally see them die slowly and painfully."

A glistening smile appeared on the General's face. "Well, then! It seems as if I have found my predecessor when I decided to leave office. Very well. I'll personally recommend you to our Great Emperor."

The masked man bowed to the General. "You are most kind, sir. It's no wonder that our children admire so, the way you destroyed all those worthless civilizations and plundered all their artifacts. Now, you will have another chance at being remembered."

But the General was already at the computer monitors, communicating with all his captiains and field commanders. "Gentlemen, it is time we have just a little fun before the real game. I want everyone down in the space helicopters in one hour. Fully loaded!"

"Space helicopters, sir?" one of them responded through the telecommunicvations device. "I'm sorry, sir, but as far I know, there is no such thing."

The General sneered. "There is now! There is now, my young lad!"

Amarkian/Space Army Station #8

Quadrant 31, Section 17

5.23 billion miles from Earth, beyond remnants of Pluto.

"Hey, that didn't count!" the angry space cadet yelled.

"Ah, but it did count, my young friend," the better-dressed sergeant responded. Very few people knew it, but he was practically unbeatable in ping-pong. Even the generals and the commanders of the motherships had lost to him several times.

"But I saw the ball hit the net. Would I ever lie to you, sir?" the cadet asked to his superior.

"You really want me to answer, that Mr. Frank Sinatra?"

The cadet knew exactly what he was reffering to. "Their little secret from King Spiny." Although the King himself loved to dance and was known far and wide on Earth as being on of the best and most original dancers, he simply did not tolerate any of it on military stations. Sure, they were billions of miles away and all of the Space Army servicemen came from almost 70 different planets from all over the Galaxy.

Nevertheless, they were all under the reign of Amarkia. It was known as GGA #0231. Galactic Governmental Act. All the planets were allowed to retain their present forms and leaders of government as long as they were loyal to Amarkian principles.

Although critics accused Amarkia of creating satellite nations, the truth was that the Amarkian influence brought peace, justice and prosperity throughout the universe.

"Sure you won't challenge me for a re-match?" the sergeant asked.

"Isn't that for chess sir?"

"You know what I mean! Or are you chicken?"

The cadet grinned confidently at his commander. "You may begin when ready, sir!"

The sergeant struck the ball first as Captain Watson was entering the room, making his rounds. "How are you Watson?" the sergeant asked.

"Captain, sir!" the cadet saluted.

Watson's hazel eyes suddenly looked pale and gray. His skin was white and his expression frozen and shocked. His body had become stiff. He fell forward like someone had stopped him in time and was holding him by strings.

The cadet and his commanding officer stared in amazement. "You don't think he's auditioning again for me to tell my cousin on Earth who's a talent scout, do you?"

"I wouldn't know, sir."

"Wait a minute! What's that?" he pointed to the dull-bronze colored, fairly large object in the Captain's back. It had ripped a hole in the back layers of his clothing. And another one the same size and shape into his back. The muscle was torn and tiny, splintered pieces of bones were sticking.

"What in King Allaxe's name is this?!" the sergeant shouted.

"It's…it's a bullet, sir!"

"A bullet! That's impossible!" He had been trained in some of the best Amarkian Space Army schools there were. And every single one said the same: you cannot have a fired without a weapon and the sound of it going off.

But so far the only noise they'd heard besides their conversation and the ping-pong was the ongoing computer beeping sounds that kept the base alive and the distant echoings of space. Even supernova and nebulae and planet rings made their own wonderful sounds, like great orchestras.

What could have made such a death without even a noise? Not even the sound of something breaking?

"Sir, look out the window!"

He turned his head quickly in the direction of the pointing finger. At first he could not see anything but the usual background of stars and space. Then he saw the hundreds of whirring blades on black-and-red objcets. "Red Eyes! We're being attacked! Get to your positions! I'll sound the alarm! You know what to do!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Then, let's go!"

The base's rooms were filled with eardrum-shattering alarms as all the servicemen dropped their things and slipped into their space combat armor. They then retired to the Space Jet Fighters, capable of even passing through the heart of an exploding supernova.

Very few of them even had time to make it to their figthers, as the rain of bullets from the Red Eyes got them as they were climbing into their chambers. Many Space Jets erupted into flames or exploded.

The main facilities and those who were inside turned into ashes as more Red Eye Galactic Helicopters crashed into them, their kamikaze pilots completely unmoved by their deadly suicidal attacks.

The young space cadet ran towards one of the last remaining jets. His armor suddenly felt heavy and stiff, like he was trying to run through water with medieval armor. The sweat poured down his face so much, he was worried he might drown before even making it. In his perphiral vision, he saw the horrifying vision of his sergeant running towards him and suddenly erupting into flames, screaming an eerie, bone-chilling falsetto scream.

Secured and strapped into the cockpit of his space jet, then thrust the throttle at full speed towards the incoming attackers. In his helmet, he heard the sound of one of the commanders of the motherships. "All right, men! Just stay with me and we'll manage this. I'm sorry to say that both our captain and our sergeant have been killed by these idiots. We still got each other, though. We must remember to let your mind guide your thinking, not your heart. Now let's kick some Red-Eye booty!"

The remaining Space Fighter Jets roared through space, the base now burning behind them. They knew that after winning against the raid—gathered that they did win—they would have to travel to the next Amarkian Space Base, somewhere near the rings of Saturn.

"All right, men! I know you know the procedure, but I know that fear can make you even forget your mother's name! Yes, I too am afraid. But we must use that fearful energy to fight back!"

He had not finished speaking when the noise over the radio turned into a loud Thump! "What the?!" A scream followed, followed by a terrible screech, then the explosion.

"What in Ogthar's name happened?!" one of the pilots yelled.

"Something landed on the Commander's jet!"

"Yeah, I saw it too! It came from the Red Eyes."

"What was it?" the cadet asked.

"It looked like an inscet. Like a giant, insect robotic-being. Then I just heard the screaming and saw the explosion."

A long, eerie silence followed. Amidst the oncoming attackers, the cadet heard his fellow men say, "Well, let's get rid of these bastards! What do you guys say?"

They all agreed. "Ready? Fire the magnetic plasma guns!"

The young cadet reached for the green jockstick on the dashboard. He hated to have to memorize where all the weapons and buttons were, but now with the adrenaline and the perspiration he was producing, he didn't care if he had to memorize every species of dinosaurs in alphabetical order right now.

"What's wrong?" he heard the leader yell. "Why aren't you guys firing?"

"I don't know. I'm pulling the jockstick! But it isn't working!" another yelled.

"It's a hack! The jet systems have been hacked! The Red Eyes corrupted our defense systems! We have no way of firing!"

He was right. The cadet kept pushing and pulling the jockstick for fifteen eternal seconds, when it broke into his hand, the torn wires throwing sparks. It was clear that their only hope was to retreat. If they could get into hyperspeed, or go into a keyhole in space or even a black hole, they would be able to arrive at the Space Station in Saturn and be able to warn Amarkia from there.

At least one us can make it, the cadet said to himself. It only will take one of us. But I don't know if it will be me.

The remaining eight space jets traveled together, now forming a V-shape defensive posture. Even in space, where there is no air, there still can be disturbances and turbulence from solar winds, geomagnetic storms, and even radiation from distant exploding stars.

Getting caught in a current while retreating from an enemy like the Red Eyes would mean certain death.

"Here they come! They're right on our tail!"

What he was saying was completely accurate. The black helicopters, their weapons now loading something terrible and sinister, were now no more than 20 or 30 miles behind them. In space, if the enemy was closer than 50 miles, they could easily annihilate your spacecraft.

"There's a keyhole about 230 miles to our left. If at least one of us makes it, we can reach Saturn and send the distress signal to Amarkia!"

"And if we all make it?"

"Then I'm buying everyone shrimp cocktails when we reach the base."

A light-hearted yet solemn silence filled the radio transmission. They knew perfectly well that at least half of them would die in the next few minutes. And with them traveling at top speed, near the speed of sound, it was highly unlikely that more than one of them would make it into a special area of space that was relatively small.

Sure enough, one by one, six of the eight jets disintegrated into flames, their pilots now in a state of bliss and peace as they said silently cried out their farewells. The keyhole was coming up fast and each time they got closer, it was becoming more unlikely that any of the two remaining ones would even come close to it.

Ironic, but true.

The other jet appeared in front of the space cadet. Behind him the enemy helicopters fired at his back wing, causing the auxiliary engine to erupt into flames. He caught the whiff of smoke and saw the fire now approaching him rapidly.

He knew that there was only going to be one survivor. And he decided who it was going to be.

With the flick of a switch, he we went into reverse at turbo speed, firing the propulsion jet fire onto the back of his teammate before him. It was just enough to push him into the right direction and speed towards the keyhole.

As he saw him disappear, he closed his eyes and smiled, as the last one of his base crashed into the front end of the enemy ship, both exploding into brilliant fireballs in space.


	23. Chapter 23

"Checkmate!" I shouted to Larry.

He went from his "thoughtful" pose to raising his right index finger up. Eoraptors are one of the few dinosaurs that have five fingers. I think that the only other ones with five fingers are Herrerasaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Stegoceras, and…that's all, I think.

"Checkmate," he said, moving his bishop next to my king. Then he crossed his arms and grinned. "Well, I do think that that wraps it up."

"Wait just a minute!" I said. I wasn't going to waste four hours of hard concentration against this guy just to lose to him. Even if he was letting me beat him because of my recent injury and all.

It'd been almost two days since the Red Eye attack. You can certainly say that everyone's parents were not happy about what had nearly happened to their kids. Especially Lilia's parents. You can imagine what three bullets and a bad burn to the entire back can do to a girl's father.

Larry pointed to the small, blue spot on me cheek. "Is that where Lilia's dad hit you?"

"None of your business."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. He sure was angry at you wasn't he?"

I groaned. "Would you please stop it? I don't want to discuss it anymore! Drop the subject and don't bring it up again anymore! Is that clear?"

"Yes, but that…"

"Shut up!"

"All right!"

I looked down back at the chess board.

And no, I will not discuss the matter with you either! Yeah, just because you have gone through everything with me and as a reader, you probably know things that are happening that I don't know about, but that doesn't give you any right to…

I tried to make it up to them by letting them stay in one of the residences behind the Palace. Where all the farmers live with their families and help produce all the food and drinks that we consume.

Well, I won't say Mr. Woods' was exactly against the idea, but he certainly wasn't for it either. Let's just say that for the moment anyway, I wasn't exactly the guy for his daughter anymore. The only good thing was that Lilia still loved me just as much and she was still sweet on me.

Anyways, my mind returned to the chess game. What are you supposed to do when both players have checkmated each other? "Hey, Spiny, I don't want to appear stupid, but haven't you noticed something?"

"What?"

"There are no pieces left to attack except our two kings. And we're both checkmated."

We both stared at each other. Then at our kings. Then back at each other. We began to laugh and started backing away from the board slowly. "Well, uh, what do you know?"

"I know, right?" Larry said.

"Yeah, I know."

Even dire circumstances can't change how stupid and smart-aleck Larry is. He grabbed the chess board and smacked it on top of my head. "I win! I win! I win!"

You don't think it hurt, right? You just think I'm sensitive, right?

Ha! Well, I got news for you, my friend! Just ask some idiot to grab a professional-sized chess board that is about three inches thick and have them smack it on your head as hard as they can. And if it doesn't hurt, then you call me.

Anyways, I said, "That doesn't count!"

"Yeah, it does! There's nothing in the rules that says I can't win by smacking you on the head with the board."

I knew I wouldn't be able to make a good argument out of that. But I wanted to try anyway. I was about to, when Larry's phone beeped. "Oh, hey. It's time for you to take your pill."

"What? I don't need to take any pill! I'm in perfect health."

Ignoring me, he answered his phone. "Yeah, what is it? Uh-huh. What?! When? Who…the Red Eyes?!"

I jumped when he said that and started paying more attention. I wanted to see if I could figure what the other person was saying to Larry. He continued saying, "How many? Good grief! Seventy? What do you mean they destroyed the central nucleus? I was made known that…oh, yeah. That makes sense. Well, how did they…they used dark matter gas?!"

"Dark matter gas?!"

He turned to me. "Uh, yeah. They attacked one of our bases. Completely destroyed. Only one of fighters made it out. They went into a keyhole and reached the Saturn base and reported there." He resumed talking. "Uh-huh. What?! They destroyed the Saturn base, too? Oh, you're kidding! What? Neptune?! What happened…he did? How many? Oh, good that's a relief."

"What? What?"

"The Red Eyes also attacked and destroyed the Saturn base."

"What about this Neptune stuff? What happened?"

"Oh, they just said that The Comet attacked the Neptune Station, and there are seventy injured, but no deaths. They had no electrical weapons. That's his only weakness, but they didn't have any, so they retreated to the bunkers. The base sustained about 37% damage, but we'll be able to repair it, they say." He went back to the phone conversation. "Yes, he's with me. Yes, I'm repeating all this to him. Okay, just one more…hello? Hello?" He took the phone away and stared at it. "Huh. Must have bad signal."

"Maybe it's a solar flare or solar wind," I suggested.

"Maybe. I hope not. Those can last for hours." He placed the phone near his ear again. "Hello? Hello! Yes, what happened? What do you mean the guy I was talking to you just died? Who is…" Larry's eyes got huge and he quickly hung up and threw the phone across the room.

"What? What happened?"

"I was just talking to a Red Eye."

Say what?! "Uh….come again?"

"He was killed in the middle of the conversation by a Red Eye. The base in Neptune. It's been destroyed."

"Did he tell you?"

He shook his head. "I don't need him to tell me. I can see it with my Tele-Vision Power. I can see things that are happening far away. Everything's on fire. Everyone's dead. Red Eyes everywhere. Destroying everything. And the IEO following close behind to stamp out anything that survives."

"What about those 5,000 thousand Red Eye ships they'd sent?"

"Oh, those? They turned out to be traps. They wanted us to leave Amarkia and fight them while the real army invaded Amarkia. Good thing we figured it out. The spy we'd sent in several centuries ago had been feared dead. But he warned us about 18 hours ago." He shook his head, trying to shake the vapors out of his head. "I'm sure glad I don't have to live among them anymore. It's…traumatizing."

But I wasn't listening. I'd had it. I was sick and tired of all this. They wanted to play with fire? All right! I could play along with them. I could play with fire too. And how do you fight fire? No, not with a hose. You fight fire with fire.

"That did it!" I pounded my fists against the table. "I'm tired of always running way. Of always fearing for my life and the lives I was entrusted to protect when I was crowned King of Amarkia. Now we're fighting back. I am done running. We are going to turn the tables. We will make the Red Eyes and the IEO run from us!"

He jumped from his chair. "I say that…is what we should've done from the start, you jerk!"

My jaw dropped. "Did you just…ah! Never mind. I'm not arguing. The point is that we are going to put our battle plan into action. We're going into overdrive."

"Yeah, it's about time you did something instead of just sitting around like nerd playing chess."

I crossed my arms and glared at him. "Okay, you want to hear me say it? All right, I'll say it! I should've done something faster. There, I said it! You happy?"

He grabbed something from a red-and-white striped bag and stuffed it into his mouth, crunching it. "Not really."

"And are you eating popcorn?"

He stopped chewing and blinked his eyes. "No! I'm chewing glass. Of course, I'm eating popcorn, you dummy!"

Oh, please…give me patience…

"Well then, let's go!" I started going down the elevator to the basement floor, where the Bunker is. Larry jumped in just as the doors were closing.

"So, what do we do, first?"

"I just have to take care of something quick."

"Ah, I see. Going to say your final goodbye to the lady, huh?"

I rolled my eyeballs. "I'm not planning on dying, okay? I just want to see how my baby is doing."

He gasped, like when you truly are shocked. "You have a baby?!"

"Don't be clown! You know what I mean. Baby is an affectionate term used by couples."

"Really? Since when?"

"Since….ah!" I wasn't about to get pulled into another meaningless discussion with this nitwit. It would only serve in frying my neurons. And I needed to have a clear mental state for whatever would lie ahead.

I entered the Bunker and Lilia's family was there, sitting against the wall. They didn't want to be upstairs until Lilia was completely recovered. It had been the same with Roger. He didn't leave until Darla was well enough to go back home with her sister. She even asked to cancel her summer internship to be with Darla!

"I just came by to talk to Lilia," I said as I walked past.

Her father came up and stood in my way. "Not in your life."

Well, one thing about the Woods family…they're very good at holding grudges for extended periods of time. He suddenly didn't look like the big, friendly man who reminded me so much of my father and would often treat me like his own son.

Now he appeared menacing, and quite frankly, his bulging forearms look strong enough to crush my windpipe. I...gulp…took a deep breath and tried my best to look confident yet respectful. Believe me, that's not easy when you're facing your possible future father-in-law.

"Sir, I have to see her."

"I don't want you to see my daughter. You almost got her killed."

O-kay.

"Sir, I understand how you must feel. I do feel a certain amount of responsibility. But, how can you really blame me for an unforeseen incident? How was I supposed to know that this was all going to happen? It was supposed to be just a weekend camping trip among friends. But now, it is my duty to protect those whom I love and care for. If I didn't express that love, I wouldn't be carrying out my true role as a loving King who wants only the best for his subjects. Don't you think?"

I swear, it was like a World Staring Contest with this guy. Like the first one who blinked was the weak one. I was actually starting to get worried that he might shoot lasers from his eyes. But finally, he blinked and I could see his muscles relaxing. He stepped aside and said to me as I was walking past, "You have three minutes."

Well…better than nothing.

I suppose…

She was still on the bed, white sheets covering her. She looked so serene. Peaceful. Her face was full of bliss and goddess-like beauty. So perfect. Her long, silky brown hair tumbled down over her face. Her thin, soft, pink lips that were pure roses. Her two eyebrows that decorated her face and her long eyelashes that served as shield to those heavenly honey-brown pupils that caused angels to fall from heaven and flowers to open.

I brought my face, closing my eyes until our lips made contact, sending a warm sensation that spread throughout my face. Her eyelids fluttered and yes, those same beautiful eyes looked up at me. Her sweet lips twitched until they formed that same smile that captivated my soul.

"Hey," she whispered ever so softly.

I smiled back, and saw her cheeks blush the same pink of her lips. "Hey. How you doing?"

"Fine. Feeling better. Just a little tired. And you?"

"I've been okay." My left hand caressed her cheek gently, holding the precious vase of her face in my arms while my right hand lingered down to curl its fingers around hers. "I miss you, you know?"

"So do I. Even though you come here every day." She must've noticed something because she said, "Is everything okay, baby?"

This was not the time or place to beat around the bush, nor to go into too much detail. So I said, "I've decided to not run away. They're not going to make me fear anymore. I'm going to fight for what I believe in, what I've been entrusted to protect…and for those whom I love and care about."

She blinked her eyes, those eyelashes like waves on the beach. Then she smiled and I felt the electrifying touch of her hand on my face. I closed my eyes and enjoyed her caress, longing that the sensation would last forever. "I know you'll make it. I just know you will."

I opened my eyes again and saw the confidence reflected in her expression. "Go and do it, Spiny. Go there and do what you believe is right. Do it for our people. For you family. For the gang. Do it for us." She struggled to stand up and embraced me, her cheek brushing against mine.

"I promise…and that…I'll come back."

I felt her head nodding and she whispered into my ear. "I'll be waiting for you. But if you die…I'm going to kill you, you hear?"

I smiled and took her face into my hand once again and kissed her. "I love you," we both said.


	24. Chapter 24

"So what do you want to do first?" Larry asked as I was packing my military gear into TIV.

"First tactic is to subtly place the enemy into a weaker state so that when the time for actual battle comes, it will be easier to do." I jumped into the driver's seat and buckled up. As I turned on the ignition, I said to Larry, "Did you do what I asked you to do?"

"What did you ask me?"

"To get the smartest computer hackers from our prisons."

"Oh, yeah! Sure, I've gotten them. It's only five, I think. From what I hear, though, they are really good at what they do. Or…what they used to do. And what they used to do got them in the Slamhouse Hotel."

We arrived at our destination, the Sauropolis High-Security Civil Detention Center. It was one the highest-security and largest prisons in the world. In fact, many world criminals wanted by the CIA are currently serving time there.

If these were normal circumstances, I would've told you some technical and historic info about it. But since I'm on the brink of war, I have other matters to take care of. Sorry. Maybe when we return I'll tell you more of it.

Anyways, once we had our escort inside Larry and I walked down the gloomy, dark-gray hallways with steel doors and highly protected security cameras on every cell door, inside and out.

The warden led us to a small room with a single window in the back and a large table in the center. When they brought in the five convicts, my reaction was pure instinct: palpitating heart, chattering teeth, and hairs standing up.

Not now. You have guards around you. And remember…there are more important things now.

I took a deep breath and stood up straight, in order to assert authority. "Very well, men. Let's not bother with formalities and get down to business," I said.

The "leader", who had short, straight red hair and gray eyes and seemed to be around his late 20s spoke. "Yes, sir. What exactly are we to do? We weren't exactly told on what we were to do or how. We just know that you want us to do something."

"Yes. Your name?"

"Ray. Ray Logan."

"All right, Ray. I happen to know that your reason for your, ah, instalment in the facility, shall we say, was because you are the best in your business."

His eyes darted from side to side. "And what business is that, Your Majesty?"

"Computers. Aren't you sort of a hacker guru or something?"

He chuckled. "Well…I have loved hacking since I could speak and walk. I've almost reformed."

"Yes, that's very nice. But now, I want you to un-reform."

"Uh…excuse me?"

"I'm going to be frank with you, Ray, as we have little time. You may have heard news of our recent troubles with the IEO and the Red Eyes."

He nodded his head.

"Well, we have come up with a battle plan, most of which is confidential. However, you and your friends here could play an important role in settling a score against our enemies."

"We could?"

"Yes. I've read your behavioral reports and you and your friends are in the Top 2% of the best-behaved prisoners in the country!"

"Really? Huh, I did not know they counted that."

"Yes. Now, here's my deal. A personal deal from the King to you." I leaned closer to emphasize just how much red tape I was cutting here. "I want you to hack into the Red Eyes central computer system, and the IEO's financial system and corrupt both. In exchange, the five of you will be on probation for 12 months."

Wow, you should've seen his reaction! It was like I'd told him I was going to let him marry Bryce Dallas Howard.

"Sir, I, uh…I'm at a loss for words!" he said, smiling.

"Yes, I imagine you would be. Then you accept?"

"Um, well…" he turned to other four behind him. I kept my eyes on them to see if they made any kind of expression. None of them moved at all, not even nodding their heads. They just blinked. Ray turned back to me. "Yes, we accept."

"Very well. Let's get started." Larry came by and placed a laptop on the table, facing Ray. He sat down, his handcuffs removed, but four beefy guards stood by, their 7-foot weapons loaded and ready. Kind of weird, but I wasn't worried that this guy might attack me at any second.

"All right…let's see…" he started typing keys and moving the mouse. I know about computers and have taken classes on how to make and maintain websites but I don't know peanuts about hacking and making viruses.

"So…sir? What exactly do I need to hack?"

I stood up beside him, ignoring the warden's gestures not to. I wasn't worried, to say the truth. I just wanted our plan to work. Yes, our plan. Larry helped out tremendously. Anyways, I said, "Well, for the IEO, I need you to create something, anything that will hack their financial system. Their banking is all computer based, of course. Something that can corrupt it."

"Oh, I see. Same thing with the Red Eyes?"

"No, with them it's different. With the Red Eyes, I want you to try your best to infect their main computers. Central command, control center, that kind of stuff."

"Just keep this in mind," Larry said, breaking the silence he'd maintained since we entered the prison. "The Red Eyes are extremely hard to penetrate. They have incredibly powerful anti-virus and anti-spyware on every single computer of the empire. Every. Single. One. And even if you do manage to crash their network, they have thousands of back-up computers ready. So you'll have to find a way to mess that up also."

Ray hissed in amazement and ran his hand through his hair, leaning back in the chair. "Wow, uh, yeah, I'm not sure I can do that. I've never attempted such online security."

"Listen," I said. "I know that this is a great task. And even an expert can have huge obstacles. But please keep in mind that I have a nation and a people to protect. That includes you and your fellow inmates. Your families who are waiting for you outside; think of them. Of all those in the galaxy and the universe who are waiting for us to act. To bring justice to those who have caused us sorrow and grief."

He kept his dull, grey pupils on the bright screen in front of him. He turned his vision towards me. "Can I make a request?"

Yeah, you should've seen that coming. Great, there goes the whole plant!

"And what is that?" I asked.

"Four more chairs."

"Huh? Chairs?"

"Sure! For my buddies! It won't take just me, you know. This is a work that requires manpower."

Larry was already walking in with four chairs. The other convicts perked up and quickly sat down on either side of Ray. "So…will you do it?"

He smiled confidently. "We'll do our best, sir. Our very best!"

Red Eye Main Planet

Capitol City

Central Command of Electrical Systems

Control Room

The usual white-and-blue screens suddenly turned an eerie red as alarms blazed across the room. "Virus! We have a virus!" one of the workers yelled. He quickly ran to the adjacent office, pushing his co-workers aside as they all ran frantically.

"Sir, sir!"

"What is it, now? Can't a guy have some moments of peace?"

"We've been infected! A virus has corrupted our computers!"

His superior gazed at him strangely and raised his eyebrow. "Have we, now?"

"Yes, sir! And it's spreading quickly! It's affecting our power grid!"

"Oh? Can it really be all that bad?"

The worker rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the entire plant shut off, leaving everyone in complete darkness. The whirring of the motors and the hum of electricity all died down.

"Does that answer your question, sir?"

"But you have got nothing to worry about, my dear lad."

"Sir?"

"We've been expecting this attack for quite some time now. We know that Amarkia was planning something. We do have double agents for a reason, you know. It's a shame I didn't get assigned to personally eliminate King Spiny."

He stood up and walked into Control Room. "Well, what could we expect? What kind of damages?"

"Well, a lot of stuff, sir."

"I see. I suppose that would include vital and sensitive information, right?"

"Yes."

"Have you started the emergency procedure? The transferal of the data to separate files?"

Another worker bumped against his uniform and immediately recognized the chief's attire. "Uh, yes sir. But since the virus came suddenly and somehow managed to bypass all our anti-spyware and firewall software and stared spreading quickly to other computers, we have only managed to save 24% of the data."

"Uh-huh. And you did get the most vital things in that small percentage, right?"

He stuttered. "Uh…well, that's the thing, sir. We, uh…we only managed to save non-essential items. Since our essential items have stronger security and are more compressed, they are harder and take longer to transfer. So we just saved what we could."

"Idiots!" he said, slamming his fist against someone's cheek, not even knowing who it was. "Do you pretend to leave us in the dark?!"

"Sir! Please, calm down. We're working on it. We've never had an attack like this before. Might I suggest that you contact the authorities and inform them of it so that they can treat the source of the problem while we fix it?"

"How can I contact anyone if the phones aren't working? Everything's connected!"

"But your mobile phone isn't sir. And if you hurry, you might be able to contact someone before the blackout affects transmission towers."

He let out a heavy breath and a grunt. "Very well. Seen as I have no other choice."

The Governor's Office

Capitol City

"Oh, I thought you meant a military attack," the governor spoke through his cell phone. "It's not? Then what, then? Oh, a cyber-attack. A hacker. Well, who sent the virus? Amarkia?! What? How did they manage to…yes, I imagined you didn't know. Of course you don't know what do to! It's just that you are all too lazy to know that there are several backup plans for this. Yes, we lost power also. I am aware that it's affecting the entire region, but I don't want the Emperor to know of this, you hear?

"Now, then. In your basement, there are several metallic containers. They have back-up computers which are not connected. They contain all the same data you had on the ones you just lost. That's right. And get the giant solar-panels out. They have just finished construction on those. We've been working on those for years. Yes, I do realize that not everything will come back at once. I want all the restored power to return mainly to military stations and power plants. And residential areas. Yes, our people need electricity to be happy. It'll help us make others miserable."

He laughed ominously. "Don't you worry. You take care of the electricity, and we'll take care of the attackers. I'll see to it that you get a citation. Now, don't get emotional. You know what the sentence for that is." After hanging up, the lights in his office returned and his desk phone rang.

"Hello, this is Governor Herat speaking. Oh! Great Emperor Igétis! How great to hear your voice. Yes, I know. I agree. Yes, this problem must be solved. Don't worry, sir, I will personally take care of it. We've had our little fun with those space stations. Now it's time we had fun with Amarkia itself. Our soldiers who sneaked in are ready to attack once we join them for the party. As you wish, sir. I'll give the orders to attack."

Amarkian Office of Emergency Operations

Sauropolis, Amarkia

Three days later.

July 28, 2015

"What does the last report say?" I asked Larry, raising my voice amidst the dozens of voices and ringing phones. Larry came running with several sheets of paper. "I think we can safely say that we've achieved in succeeding with the first part of the plan."

"Really?" I said.

"Yep. Reports indicate that the blackout had spread to four other planets and all major center of communication, power plants, factories, residences, electrical grids and defense systems have all shut down."

I silently shot out a cry of victory. I seriously didn't think that we'd mange to send a virus strong enough and resistant enough to make it. I mean, first I wasn't sure, then I was. And then I wasn't, and then I was again. Then…well, you get the idea.

I guess it was so much uncertainty of their reaction that troubled me. But here I had the evidence in front of me, in white and black that the cyber-attack had worked. I let out a sigh of relief and was now confident that we would be able to knock out the next part.

"Well, you think we're ready for the real action?" I asked Larry.

He smiled with the same amount of confidence that I had. "Let's do it. I say we're ready. Well, almost ready. Our military and the Space Armies have nearly finished preparations. I know we'll turn it into a huge success."

At that moment, Larry's phone rang. "Yes. It's me." He dropped the papers from his hand and he looked like he was about to faint. "WHAT?! What do you mean? Oh, no! Since when? Huh? How long did…3 hours? Just three hours?! Then how come we were receiving reports that…delay time? Are you crazy? Well…all right. I understand."

After he hung up, I was quite curious, obviously. "What happened?"

He shook his head and muttered. "I can't believe it. Just can't…"

He started to leave, but I grabbed him and pulled him back. "Oh, no you don't! You are not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on. Who was on the phone? What happened? Why do you suddenly look so…defeated?"

He sighed and his whole body seemed to be coming down. "The…the virus we sent didn't work."

"What?"

"It caused a blackout across a few planets, but it only lasted three hours. The Red Eyes apparently found out in some way and they prepared themselves for it. They had backup computers that were not connected so there is no possible way of hacking those. On top of that, all of these new computers will have different, individual software. Plus, they had been building these planet-sized solar powers that can instantly restore power to areas in the dark. Everyone and everything has power again."

I collapsed on the seat nearby and crashed my forehead against my fists. I suddenly felt my confidence dying out and a sense of defeat and dread overtook me. We had failed. We had failed our mission. We put in a lot of effort and sweat and blood and we failed miserably. I didn't want to think how horrendous a military defeat in space would be.

I was lost in these thoughts, when all the computer monitors and the giant screen on the whole started flashing and beeping. "What's happening?"

Larry jumped to the nearest computer, pushing the guy aside. When he looked back at me, his eyes reflected terror. "They're here."

"What?" I asked. But I was almost sure of what he was talking about.

"The Red Eyes are here."

"What? How? Where?!" I felt my heart palpitate as my body was quickly going to panic mode.

"I don't know!" he said in a frightened voice. "They just appeared out of nowhere on our radar! They're in the upper atmosphere right above Amarkia! And they're descending. They'll be visible in a few minutes."

My response was automatic like all other air attacks we'd had. "Activate the force field! I want it set on the highest level!"

"Okay!" Larry turned to the other military officers present. "You heard the man! Turn on that force field! Get the planes and the fighter jets out! And ready all lethal weapons! I want those lasers and those plasma guns fully loaded."

The main monitor on the wall turned to a view of high up in the sky from a military base. A large, distinguishable Red Eye mothership appeared as a speck in the center. The speck started to grow and grow more massive.

However, this time the approach was different than the last one. I saw now hordes of smaller Red Eye aircraft appearing out of its sides. The ship just kept lowering and lowering, like the predator that stalks closer to its prey, waiting for the moment to attack. The prey knows that the predator is there. He knows that it's going to attack. But he was no way of knowing of when the attack will come.

"They're now 15 miles above us. They seem to be slowing down," a man near me sitting down said, removing the headphones from his ears.

From the view we were getting on the screen, we saw the ship now encompassing almost the entire sky view, brining again darkness over the entire area. I then saw with a terrified heart the massive laser beams shoot out from beneath and strike the force field.

I was almost sure that we'd be safe. And in case not, our army was ready and upgraded with the latest and most lethal weapons for combat. Then, all confidence vanished.

I suddenly felt very hot. The room suddenly became muggy and I could see steam staring to come off all the chairs and the seats. I tugged at the collar of my shirt and said to Larry, "Hey, how come it's so hot?"

"I don't know, I feel it, but…" he took a closer look and I could see he was using one of his powers. I could tell because both his eyes became huge, empty, black pupils. Creepy, but true. "Oh…no."

"What? What?"

"Spiny…I never thought of a heat attack on the force field."

"What are you talking about?"

His eyes returned to their normal, dark brown tone and I saw his lower jaw starting to tremble. "They're melting our force field generators."


	25. Chapter 25

Unit #23 of the Space Army Fleet

Nearing atmosphere of Main Red Eye Planet

Mission: coordinate and carry out EMP attacks on ionosphere to disable all electrical equipment on ground level

The soaring galactic eagles flew effortlessly through the great vast of space. They made not a sound as they neared their target. The fleet was enormous; it consisted of at least 70,000 Space Army Aerial Fighters.

They had all gone through the required three years of combat training. It was not as simple as bullets, shells, and grenades. Because of the fact that the enemies were greatly advance in their technology and most were based in space, having to learn to fire plasma guns, anti-dark matter cannons, and white-energy bombs.

Energy.

Dark energy.

Energy crisis.

It was a universal problem. For Amarkia, the nations of Earth, for the Red Eyes, the IEO, and all other civilizations in the vast universe. The need for more energy at a faster pace and at a lower cost was quickly becoming viral.

It had been long unknown why the Red Eyes and the IEO constantly tormented Amarkia and its allies across the galaxy. Many believed for generations that personal grudges between the Emperor and Larry had been the spark that lit the ever-lasting conflict between the two sides.

But the discovery of the Terra-Track brought many new truths into the light. No one had yet any idea of how long it had been down there, nor how long everyone else knew about it. But not one day after its rediscovery, the Red Eyes and the other Amarkian enemies jumped out from their inactivity states to pounce on every given opportunity.

Just as Amarkia was willing to do anything to keep the Terra-Track and protect its own, so were the Red Eyes capable of committing horrendous acts to retrieve the Terra-Track, which they viewed as rightfully theirs.

Yet no one had any certainty of who had the Terra-Track first after the disintegration of The Great Conglomerate, the first great evil force in the universe. Even the Terra-Track's origins were still unclear amongst many.

But everyone knew what it meant.

Unlimited, eternal, and free energy for anything and anyone for all time.

It represented complete energy security and power source for anything and everything for however long you wanted. And over the millennia, the Terra-Track itself had seemed to develop a mind of its own.

If the owner has of pure enough heart and chaste soul, the Terra-Track could follow its owner's personal orders and many times, especially during a crisis or in high adrenaline moments, it would act without any outside interference.

After the lecture they'd just received on the Terra-Track and the vital importance, the critical importance of defending that single, six-sided, palm-sized light blue cube. The very fate of the whole universe would be decided in the final outcome of this new war against the Red Eyes.

"And now," the Commander of the Fleet had said, "we have to fight now just with all that we've got, but also put our minds and hearts and souls into it. We fight to bring justice into the places where abuse and corruption have taken over. To remember the sacrifices that our ancestors have made which permitted us and our children to get where they are. So, when you are out there, flying at the speed of sound and facing the greatest threat since The Great Conglomerate, remember that if you die, it won't mean that you failed. All that matters is that you are truly putting everything you've got into it."

Not three hours later, the entire fleet with the Commander at front were racing at breakneck speed towards an almost-certain death zone. The entire region around the main Red Eye planet was as dangerous as a mine area.

"Here, we go, boys," everyone heard the Commander's voice. "Get ready to take your positions. Left flank and weapon carrier! Get ahead of us and be ready to fire the first nuke. It had to be at the precise speed so that it will explode while still in the atmosphere. We are here to fry their electrical systems, not to blow up their cities."

With great agility and speed, the spacecraft carrying the single, Hiroshima-sized bomb accelerated with its escort and plunged nose-forward towards the planet's atmosphere. The ionosphere was near the top, so they had to be slow enough to fire but fast enough to make a quick retreat.

Everyone knew that the Red Eye satellites kept a close eye for any foreign objects. Just as the Space Army had done when the United Nations invaded Amarkia, they managed to deactivate the Red Eye satellites in a sector of the atmosphere. However, they only had a 2-minute window before they fired back up again or other satellites detected them.

Four minutes were not long, especially under the current circumstances.

"Okay, men," the pilot of the carrier said. "We've only got one shot at this. Delta-32. You got me covered, right?"

"Roger that. I got your back. You just focus on hitting that bullseye. Just as long as we keep within the time, we'll be fine. Now let's do this!"

The engines roared as they accelerated towards the safe zone. The pilot kept his eyes forward, while keeping his peripheral vision on the timer blinking on the dashboard. One minute and forty-nine seconds left.

He thrust the throttle forward steadily to not speed up too fast. Even with their technology, speeding to the sound barrier was still a risky move. And the last thing anyone wanted was to crash land onto the Red Eye surface. Besides getting killed in the impact, it would provoke the Red Eyes into a lethal response attack.

They'd already sent a mothership to Amarkia to destroy the force field so that later, they would have no defense to attack. And despite their great technological innovations, Red Eye weapons were still far superior to Amarkia's.

And Red Eyes were completely unmoved. They were purely evil. And they had no mercy on the fearful of heart. If anyone of their soldiers became alarmist-like or panicky, the commander or general would shoot him dead in front of everyone.

"It's coming up fast! Ready the bomb! Load the propulsion jet!" the pilot responded.

"Okay, I'm right on your tail!" Delta-32 responded.

"Here we go!" the timer now read thirty-two second. Well, this is it. Now or never. The pilot placed himself into position as he continued accelerating towards the planet's ionosphere. When he blinked his eyes, the timer went from thirty seconds to five.

"Hit it now!" the Commander shouted over the radio.

As if in a dream, his thumbs wavered to the button involuntarily. He pressed it.

The boom resonated from beneath the spacecraft and he saw the 10-foot-long point-headed nuke fire itself towards the atmosphere. Everyone veered upwards sharply. In their rearview vision, they saw the familiar sight of a massive explosion, followed by a massive white sheet of light that encompassed the entire atmosphere.

It only took a few seconds for an Electro-Magnetic Pulse from a nuclear weapon detonating high up in the atmosphere to overload and cripple the grand majority of all electrical systems on the surface. Everything from cars to airplanes to computers would instantly shut down.

When the carrier pilot turned his attention to the sight in front of him, the sounds were suddenly filled with blazing alarms and red flashes on the screen. The Red Eye fighters had come out of nowhere.

They had no resistance in destroying the entire fleet.

Just before the carrier's spacecraft disintegrated, the pilot managed to send a signal to Amarkia.

"What are the losses?" I asked Larry.

"Uh, would you feel terrible if I said that the entire fleet was destroyed?" he said.

"Yes, I would!"

"Well, if it'll make you feel any better, they did manage to fire their nuke right at the given target. But you have to understand something: firing a nuclear weapon at an enemy force like the Red Eyes is considered sacrilegious."

At least one had gotten in. I'm not saying I wasn't saddened by the death of those brave souls. But now it was essential that we concentrate our efforts and minds on the current problems in front of us.

The Red Eye laser attack had not subsided. It had only been several hours, yet it seemed like days. Whilst I was lost in deep thought, a young officer, a Velociraptor to be exact, came in running, his feathers looking half-burnt. "Sir…the lasers…on the force field…it's…raising the temperatures. It's getting dangerously hot outside! It's nearing 140 degrees!"

Larry and I quickly abandoned our post inside and ran into the outdoors. The sky had become a sickly haze of yellow-orange. Heat waves were sizzling in the air and I instantly felt the sweat starting to pour down my face.

There were now fifteen lasers shooting down all over the force field. They were all right above or close to Sauropolis. "Spiny…we have to turn off the force field."

I didn't look at him. I couldn't bear to have to say yes to that. I knew that probably we'd all burn to cinders in here, but letting the Red Eyes in…

"Okay. Open the force field. Make sure our army is ready. This is going to be gruesome."

A few minute later, I saw the protective blue shield disappear from sight.

That's when the bombing started.

It was almost instantaneous, but out of nowhere the skies were suddenly filled with hundreds of Red Eye planes and dropping bombs everywhere. The ground shook violently and clouds of dust now filled the air. The sounds were now those of screaming people, whistling of heavy bombs dropping from thousands of feet up. Air-raid sirens screaming.

I jumped into TIV with Larry as we managed to see our own planes and helicopters appearing out of hangars. Ahead of me on the other side of the road, tanks, military trucks, and other vehicles were now speeding.

The explosions were getting closer and TIV started to shake from side to side as we came thundering down the highway. Larry was on the phone, going completely berserk. "I want everyone out there! Get all civilians into the city bunkers! Call the Space Armies now! Place the entire nation under lockdown! Get…what?!" He flung the phone aside. "There's a fleet of Red Eyes racing towards the Palace!"

That did it. I slammed my foot on the gas pedal and we were both pushed backwards into our seat. I practically jumped off the highway ramp onto the street, crushing the street light. I raced down the street, completely oblivious that the bombs were getting closer. I was pretty sure that we were an acquired target.

I crashed through the Palace Gates and braked on the lawn. I jumped out just to see three Red Eye planes firing on the roof and the front side. "Larry! Get the Palace underground! And seal it!"

In extreme situations, like this one, we could literally move the entire Palace underground and it can remain there for several days or a few weeks.

The ground shook again as we heard the panel doors underneath us opening and the entire Palace rumbled as the entire mass began moving. My family was in there and so were Lilia and hers. I was sure that the rest of the gang would be okay, wherever they were.

"Hey, Spiny? Isn't that Roger and Darla running towards the Palace?"

What…did…he…say?

It was true. I hadn't noticed until that moment. They were coming down the road and had made the turn on the driveway. I ran towards them to meet up. Before I could wave to Roger, I was knocked back by a tremendous explosion and the world suddenly turned dizzyingly terrifying.

My eyes suddenly began to sting and tears flowed down my cheek. I felt a warm sensation on my left cheek. When I drew my hand away from it, my fingers dripped with fresh blood. My throat started to feel ached and the air was toxic.

They dropped a chemical bomb.

The place where Roger and Darla had been was now a cloud of green-yellow mustard gas and I heard a girl screaming in pain. I began to get up, but my head suddenly felt like it would explode and my temples screamed in pain. I saw Larry's silhouette running ahead of me and disappear in the gas cloud.

He was carrying Darla in his arms and somehow was carrying Roger in his tail. I shuddered when I saw Roger's face. It had become a red-orange burnt shape and half of his lip was gone. Darla's shirt and jacket had been incinerated, leaving only her bra and the clothes beneath the waist intact. He skin was like metal when you burn it in the oven. Flakes of skin actually fell from her torso.

Her face was covered by her long blonde hair.

I had no desire of seeing what it looked like.

Larry helped me up and he placed both in TIV. Behind us, we heard the deafening roar of a jet engine. When we had turned around, we saw the planes crash into the front doors of the palace and the Red Eye pilots crash through their windows, fully armed.

Larry and I didn't have to say anything. We grabbed our guns and ran towards the Palace, now halfway down. Avoiding the shards of glass on the floor, I came to meet myself in the line of fire. Larry pushed me down in time just before the Red Eyes fired.

Larry and I crashed ourselves against the sides to hide and fired at the enemy. The Red Eyes' only mistake was trying to sneak out and find new places to hide. We got them all while they were hiding.

We jumped out the windows just as it went under. In the distance, we saw the city now on fire. I knew the skyline by memory and seven skyscrapers had now gone. Above us, we saw the Red Eye planes returning to the mothership, pursued by our own.

"That's it? They're leaving now?!" I asked, astonished.

"Yeah, it looks like."

I felt my breath escaping. What was it with these fools? Where they going to continue doing this? Just tormenting and teasing us, as if trying to erode our confidence little by little? Larry must've been using his Telepathy Power, because he said, "That's exactly what they are doing."

I felt a burning pain on my left cheek, where I'd been scraped by the blast and blood now stained my left shoulder. But I wasn't worried about that now. "How are Roger and Darla?"

"I'm not sure. I'll take them down to the Palace and have the Medical Staff look after them."

"Hey, you're not going to do the same thing you did with Lilia's parents, right?" I asked him.

"I don't know, why?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I just figured you'd use your Healing Power to cure them completely then erase their memory of it all just like you did with Mr. and Mrs. Woods."

"Ah, I don't know. I'll see. It depends on individual circumstances." He grabbed Darla and started carrying her to where the Palace used to be, near a manhole. "What are you going to do?"

I looked back at my capitol city, flames everywhere and clouds of black smoke billowing up. "I'm going to address the nation. There's going to be a lot of scared people."

"Yeah, I know. I'm one of them," Larry said.


	26. Chapter 26

"Is this is?" I asked the Chief Sgt. of the Sauropolis Police Department. We were discussing the damages sustained from the most recent attack of the Red Eyes.

"Yes, sir. We lost seven of our superstructures and five residential communities in the suburbs are…well, they're gone. We estimate that we could have nearly a thousand dead and many more injured."

"Well…I sure want to send my consolations to all those families," I said, feeling the tears in my eyes.

"Of course, sir."

The cameraman ran inside the room we were in and shouted, "Whenever you're ready, Your Majesty!"

"Okay, I'm coming!"

The cameras and lights were ready. As I sat down in my chair, one of the crew came over and set the microphone on my shirt. I looked pretty bad to say the least. I had a bloody cheek, bruises all over, and I was sure that at least two of my teeth were missing. I didn't even bother trying to fix myself up.

Sure, I'm a neat person and all, but I wanted my people to know just how much this was affecting me as well as them. I sat down at my desk in front of the camera. Man, the last time I'd been in front of a camera I'd made a special guest appearance on a teen comedy show. Boy, was that fun.

One of the crew with the microphone said to me, "Ready, Your Majesty?"

I nodded and took a deep breath. "Whenever you are."

"Three, two, one…"

And…

Yellow paint shot from the camera and smeared all over my face. "Huh? What? A prank camera?" one of them yelled.

Ugh, well obviously I wasn't exactly amused by the happening. I got and slammed my hand against the table. Ow! "All right, who's the jerk?!"

"Uh, I'm not sure what happened, sir," the cameraman said.

"Well, get the real camera now!" I shouted. I mean, please! What kind of twisted mind would pull a practical joke on me in situation like this? Who would…wait a minute.

"Larry!"

He poked his head out of the hallway. "Yes?" he said in a high-pitched voice.

I pointed to the paint dripping from my face. "Can you explain this?"

"Oh, that? Sure, that's yellow paint."

*Frustrated sigh

"Cut it out!"

"I don't have any scissors. Just do the broadcast."

Well, he had a point. I'd take care of him when I was finished taking care of the Red Eyes. And I was going to. Nobody was going to push me and my friends like that! Anyways, the crew helped me get clean. Well, at least most of it. At least it wasn't dripping.

"We're rolling," the cameraman mouthed.

I let out the breath I'd been holding and began speaking. "Good day, my beloved people. In these past few weeks, as we all are perfectly aware of, our enemies have been repeatedly attacking and tormenting us. We all have suffered personal losses; I know it very well. But we must remind ourselves that we are Amarkians. We represent the remnants of the greatest species to have ever lived on this Earth: dinosaurs.

"Our forefathers built our great nation and made it into what it had become today. And we never have given in when faced with adversity, even grave ones. But now, the fate of not only us, but also the entire universe hangs in the balance. And we must bring justice to wherever it has been lacking in. We know that it will be a struggle, but we will succeed in the end.

"I am declaring a state of national emergency and placing the Amarkian National Guard in every major city and town. I am also sending a draft for all able-bodied men over the age of twenty. More information will reach your local TV and radio stations after this broadcast.

"I too, am fearful for my own life and my loved ones' as I know you all are. However, remember that our enemies want us to cause that fear to make us lose confidence. We cannot allow that to happen. We must be confident that we will always put our best efforts into it. I cannot guarantee that the Red Eyes will never torment us again; I will say that we will make them repay for the troubles they've caused it.

"Please follow your local authorities in case there is another attack in my absence from the planet. I will join our armies and those of our allies to war against the Red Eyes. Take care, look after one another, and never give up. Goodbye, and Godspeed."

After changing into my military uniform and meeting up with Larry outside, we drove to the launching pads, about 16 miles north of Sauropolis. It was mostly a wooded area, then the forest became a naturally-open area with high grasses.

Several Amarkian spaceships were already taking off, their trails of smoke remaining in the sky as they disappeared from ground view. Larry and I went to to our ship. It was the main one, of course. As we entered, the lights inside lit up and we were showed to the bridge of the ship.

We both sat down in our assigned seats while the crew finished preparing the ship for takeoff. "Oh, and Larry. One more thing?"

"Yeah, what is it?" he asked, coming up to his chair.

"As soon as we're in space I want a conference via telecommunications with the Commanders of all the other ships. I want to discuss our plan of attack with them."

"Sure."

The rockets blasted beneath us, and my entire body began to vibrate. I saw in the rear view the objects on the surface get smaller and smaller until the image in front of us turned from blue skies to black, starry backgrounds.

The rockets continued to blast until Earth was nothing but a small blue and white jewel behind us. Rogue meteorites and asteroids filled our view as we slowed down to Cruise Speed.

"This is Commander Heklo of the A.G.F. The Voyager. You are now free to move about the ship. All captains please report to cabin 43 at soon as possible. We will reach our rendezvous with the Space Armies and the Inter-Dimensional Force at Saturn. ETA is approximately 24 hours."

I unbuckled my seat belt and stretched my tired arms and legs as I stood up. Larry ran to the dashboard and began contacting all the commanders of our fleet of motherships. "This is Second Commander Larry," he said to all of them once their faces appeared on the screen. "Requesting teleconference on behalf of the King."

I got up and just before I began speaking, I got a text message. It was from Lilia. "Go and get them, my uniformed dream man! Show them who you are. I'll be waiting for you! Love you!"


	27. Chapter 27

"Here are your quarters, sir," the cadet said to me.

The room was fairly large, about half the size of my room back on Earth. It had white-gray metallic walls and ceiling. There were no windows and a twin-sized bed in the corner with a lamp next to it and a small closet on the other side.

"Are all the cabins like this?" I asked him.

"Sir, no, sir. Your Assistant, Larry had his made out with built-in video game consoles and a ping-pong table. And he also has a flat-screen plasma TV."

Typical Larry.

Well, I had to make the best of it. This wasn't exactly journey to explore and voyage. This was traveling to the battlefield kind of stuff, you know? I'm not one to complain. At least not that often. I don't usually get bothered by stuff like this.

Oh, sure I'm used to being surrounded by all kinds of luxury and high-tech stuff and all, but over the years I've learned to like simple stuff, you know? A lot of people on Earth, especially rich people like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet or all those other billionaires say that I do not fully enjoy my "privileged" life.

Heaven knows how many times I've been criticized for things like not having any servants, for sending my siblings to regular school instead of those special schools that Royal Families had in the old days.

Besides, we know that power and wealth is not just a privilege, but also a responsibility. You can't just go around throwing your education or your up-bringing in other people's faces. I sure never did that, at least not on purpose.

But I guess those are some disadvantages of having a net worth of $98.7 trillion. And that's just in money, you know. Actual money. We have about 145 million tons of gold coins, diamonds, jewels, and precious metals stored away.

Of course, our most valuable possession now is the Terra-Track.

As I was unpacking my stuff in the cabin my mind kept going over the discovery we had made on the camping trip just weeks earlier. That little cube had caused so much trouble.

And yet, I had the feeling that there was much more than met the eye, you know what I mean?

I mean sure, the Red Eyes and all our other enemies hated us and were doing everything to get the Terra-Track, but…I don't know why, but I just get that sensation.

Remember, I may be in human form, but I'm still a dinosaur at heart. And even though Amarkian dinosaurs have always been much more intelligent and advanced in hundreds of ways, we still carry dinosaur genes.

And despite what scientists say, animals can sense oncoming disasters. The only reason they say that it isn't true is because they're watching out for their own interests. They know that people will stop believing them and they'll lose money.

That's all what people today care about. Money and power. They don't care if they hurt other people, even their family.

Just let me finish unpacking and bear with me.

Anyways, take this example. Before we in Amarkia made the cure for cancer a few months ago, anyone who announced it would either disappear, be bribed, or be silenced forever. Doctors today, at least outside of Amarkia, don't care at all for their patients. They just want money. They create diseases and guarantee that the treatments will make people sicker so they'll have to return.

See what I mean?

That's why I had that feeling about the Red Eyes and the reasons why they were attacking us. I may not know about them as much as Larry who's lived among them for thousands of years, but I do know quite a lot.

Red Eyes have technology that is superior to Amarkia's. They could have just teleported into that underground chamber in the cave where we found the Terra-Track, taken it, killed us or taken us captive and it's all doom and gloom from there.

But I kept thinking, why?

Why weren't they taking the easy way out?

Why did they keep on lingering?

Couldn't they do something to figure out where Larry had hidden the Terra-Track?

All those questions troubled me, because I knew that Red Eyes were…well, evil. Sounds obvious, but…modifying their children so that they'll love the evil system?

I mean, even other villainous groups don't do that.

It's all sheer, indescribable horrors that no fiction author could ever portray.

Well, I didn't want to trouble myself too much. That would make me lose focus on the real problems we would soon face.

After I was finished packing I decided that I'd had enough for one day and changed into my pajamas and turned out the lights.

Did you ever have one of those…sudden flashes of intuition? Like right before something happens, you can sort of see what will happen, but only a glimpse of it?

As I was closing my eyes and my body started slipping into dormancy, I caught a brief glimpse of something. I saw…the image of two friends running towards a helicopter…then it was shot by Red Eyes…and it exploded completely.

(NEXT DAY)

"We should be reaching Saturn in about an hour, sir," the ship's commander said to me.

"Okay. Once we land at the base, I want to meet with all the commanders of the Space Armies and the Inter-Dimensional Forces to explain our battle plan. Meanwhile, could you please have Larry come down here?"

"Yes, sir."

I stared down at my breakfast plate. Now keep in mind, like I said yesterday, I am not a picky person. I'm just…selective. But not picky. There's a huge difference, you know.

I mean, I know what the circumstances were. We were traveling across the galaxy to face off with the largest and most feared force in existence. That's no walk in the park. It's a simple way of putting it.

Given those circumstances, I understand that people might be concerned, nervous, scared, or even petrified. And when you're in that frame of mind, you tend to not think straight and you often do things without thinking, right?

It's a common and understandable mistake, right?

But for once in my life, would it kill Larry to stop being such a joker and take things seriously!

Why am I saying all this?

Because when I came to breakfast, you know what happened? Well, besides there being a whoopee cushion on my seat, I was victim of the Sugar/Salt prank. While I was pouring sugar into my coffee, not only did the top fall off—splashing hot coffee on my pants—all the contents spilled out. And yes, it was salt.

"LARRY!"

As usual, he appeared out of nowhere. Where does he come from? How is it possible that someone can be so smart and yet lack good judgement?

"Yes?"

"What's the matter with you?" I shouted.

"What's the matter with you? You ought to be ashamed of yourself, joking around at a time like this."

I just sighed and face-palmed myself. What more could I do?

Anyways, when I finally ate some real food in peace and tranquility, I got up and walked up to the bridge of the ship. The navigator, an Eotyrannus, turned his face toward me and saluted. "Ah, Your Majesty. Good to see you again. Did you sleep well? Have a good breakfast?"

"Well, I've slept better nights and breakfast was a little…eventful," I said, eyeing Larry who was playing with the buttons on the touchscreen dashboard.

"Yes, well. We are now approaching Saturn. We will arrive at the base shortly. We will remain here as scheduled. We depart in two hours along with our friends and allies. Then from there…we set course to our final destination."

I corrected him saying, "No, the Red Eye planet is not our final destination. Earth is our final destination. When we return from completing our mission."

He smiled and nodded. "Yes, sir." The PA system on the ship activated and the commander's voice said, "All personnel please return to your docks and places of assigned seating. We will now dock on the base."

"Well, I guess this is it," I said to the navigator.

"I guess so, sir," he answered.

I grabbed Larry before the pilot shot him out into space and sat him down next to me as we landed.

People say that Saturn's rings are the most beautiful phenomenon in the solar system. While I disagree with that opinion, I can say that they are truly spectacular. That's why we decided to build our space army station here. I mean, you can't always have a military station in a desert, right?

After landing, Larry and I were immediately directed inside the main building, which was surrounded by massive walls and giant plasma/laser cannons and smaller spacecraft that continually buzzed above us.

When we reached the board meeting, there were about twenty or so men, all dressed in military clothing. They were all much older than I, obviously. It felt funny. I mean, I'm only a middle-school age kid and I'm in charge of all of them. Not that I was irresponsible, but you know what I mean.

I'm just so used to making orders instead of receiving them.

Anyways, I took my seat at the head of the table, "Please sit down, gentlemen. Thank you for coming. You all know what has been happening and why we've asked you to travel from the other side of the universe and from other dimensions. We really appreciate it. Now, we must remember that our victory will secure the fate of all existing things. Furthermore, it is vital that we…"

One of the general raised his hand. "Yes, sir?"

He stood up. "Sir, I don't want to be disrespectful, but time is not on our side. May we get to the point?"

"Of course. Larry?"

Larry stood up and started handing out individual sheets to all of them. "Yes, were we have a simple yet well-explained plan of how we will attack. Our Scout Troops have managed to divert 43% of the iridium meteorites around the main planets. We had moderate success in hacking their computers. However, we did send additional troops to find and destroy their giant solar panels."

He sat back down and continued speaking. "We have decided to use their own tactics against them."

"Ah, I see. Sort of giving them a taste of their own medicine?" another general asked.

I nodded. "That's right. And to quote my favorite superhero, Underdog, 'Not the cherry-sweet flavor. But the sour-hard-to-swallow flavor.'"

Larry finished explaining how we would attack the Red Eyes. I needn't tell you because you already know how we had planned to do it, right? Of course you did! That means you pay attention, but if not…then I don't know why you haven't been suspended from school yet.

An hour or so later, all the troops and armies started packing up and loading into their ships, fighters, and all the weapons and supplies were loaded.

I actually asked Larry during takeoff how many of us there were. You'll never guess. In total, we were five billion!

That's right.

Five billion.

Can you imagine how much work we could get done? Of course, numbers don't count. Since the Red Eyes had technology far superior to any of us, we had to find other clinks in their armor, so to speak.

The only question was…what were the Red Eyes' weaknesses?

Did they even have any?


	28. Chapter 28

"Then that is confirmed?" I asked the Ship's Chief of Security.

He responded, "Yes, Your Majesty. We have now confirmation on that. Our Scout Troops were able to destroy five of the sixteen mega-solar panels that the Red Eyes had installed around their main star, Kako Fos."

"Well, that should definitely help making a dent in their energy sources," said Larry.

"And how are we doing on the EMP attacks?" I asked.

"Captain Jehai of the Fleet last said that the first attacks had been a failure since their fleet was destroyed. But we sent more and we have caused planetary blackouts in five main Red Eye planets."

It was true that most first tries on ambitious projects aren't always that successful. Larry did mention that certain aggressive ways of attacking Red Eyes was unorthodox. It was out-of-the-book stuff.

But sometimes you just have to think and act outside the box.

The next week or so, we spent it traveling in the vast firmament of space. I was used to this. I know it sounds unbelievable but I've traveled long distances in space before, mainly in the other dimensions.

Even though it was nothing new, I was always astounded by it. Outer space was so immense…mysterious…captivating…dangerous…seductive…beautiful. It was the fabric of the very infinite and ever-growing space we lived in. It was the real world. It was true.

It was so hard to believe that in this dangerous vast would be so many life forms. The grand majority of them were quite intelligent and advanced but not really that sophisticated. At least not in the way people imagined.

Of course, there had always been troubles.

First there were natural threats.

You probably know this, but outer space isn't exactly the safest place to live. You've got solar wind, geomagnetic storms, supernova, black holes, asteroids, meteorites, rogue planets, and not to mention the drastic temperature differences and radiation.

Of course, having powerful forces like the Red Eyes made it much more dangerous. A lot of people feed on all that danger, you know? You ever meet someone like that? There are plenty of those among us.

Am I saying that I'm scared?

To be frank with you, I think the word "petrified" wouldn't even start to come close to how I was feeling at the moment. This was something no one had ever dared or even dreamed of doing. Let me tell you, going offensively against the Red Eyes was not just like a squad of riot police breaking into a building full of terrorists.

All of its history, the Red Eye Empire has been the one going on the offense.

Actually, the Red Eyes have only fought defensively once. Larry told me this a few days before we reached the main Red Eye planet. I was bored, concerned, tired, worried, and to be frank, I was a mess, mentally speaking.

I tried to make myself think of anything else but the Red Eyes. I even tried to force myself into imagining Kylie teasing me and making fun of Lilia.

Yeah, I know, I know. That's not nice of me and if Lilia found out she'd probably kill me and strangle Kylie. But to be honest, I'd rather much bear with that than to be fighting the Red Eyes.

Anyways, I was asking Larry a little about the earlier Red Eye history, since he knows much more about it than me. "To my knowledge, those bastards have only gone on the defense once since they came into existence. It was when they were just starting. It was in another planet system; on the other side of the galaxy they're in now. At the time, I was battling Rexy's armies and up until that moment, he was the greatest threat in the universe.

"Another planet nearby, called Ketra was oh, I'd say about the size of Mercury. Maybe just a tad bigger. But anyways, their people were the first ones to recognize the potential threat from the Red Eyes. So they decided to put down the threat. They attacked the Red Eyes and were forced into retreat. They did manage to destroy many of their main bases."

"So then they won?" I'd asked.

"Not really. The Red Eyes had already sent in double agents in the planet and set bombs all over the place. Just the touch of a button and…well, you can guess what happened. Within weeks, the entire planet's inhabitants were destroyed."

Now that I remember that, I guess it wasn't such a good idea for me to have inquired about the Red Eyes' history. It wasn't comforting. Like, at all.

It had been something like 68 million years since then. I don't really know much about Red Eye history. If you want to know more, you'll have to consult with Larry about that. If I make it alive out of this one, that is.

Anyways, with those thoughts coming back to my mind, I dressed myself in my armor and loaded my weapons and prepared for the big showdown. In only a few hours we would be entering Red Eye Empire territory.

As we were walking down the hallway to the bridge, I said to Larry, "I sure hope those detection systems have been shut down by the EMP attacks."

"Well, we can't guarantee anything. In these circumstances, certain knowledge is a highly valued privilege. But it can also be a lethal weapon. We have to take all precautions. Just to be on the safe side, I ordered all ships and fighters to be in Level 5 Stealth Mode."

"Think they'll be able to detect us? I mean, in case they still have their detection systems online, will they be able to?"

He shrugged, placing the last piece of armor over his tail. "I don't know. I mean, they can penetrate the strongest force fields. That's why we had to upgrade ours. And we're continue working on that. It may take months or years. Or longer."

We said nothing as we started up the elevator and entered the Command Chamber. Armored and uniformed men were talking on ship-to-ship phones and running all over the places, waving papers and carrying weapons.

This is it. The real thing. Just a matter of minutes now.

Larry and I made a right turn into the South Wing 5 corridor and silently started down with no other sound than our footsteps on the metallic floor. My skin underneath the Iridium-Iron armor quivered and perspired fear, doubt, and determination. And sweat, of course.

Natural thing.

I could feel my heart not only pounding, but it was moving around in my chest! I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my breathing came in short, quick bursts. As Larry and I assumed our battle positions in our respective Space Fighters, my fingers wavered as they pushed the controls to engage and ready the weapon and shield systems.

"This is Commander Heklo. We are now in Red Eye territory. The main planet is directly ahead of us. All troops are to be in battle positions! Let's all pull through this thing together and see how it goes for us! Let's do this, boys!"

There it was. Right in front of us. Seconds away from the atmosphere.

"Larry?" I asked him over the inter-fighter intercom.

"Yeah, Spiny?" he responded.

"I just want to say that I'm glad that you and I are doing this thing together. We've been best friends in the good and bad times, right?"

"Sure have." I couldn't see him, but I was certain that he was smiling. "And I can say for sure that I've never been prouder than you than at this moment. I'm sure that if your father were here, he'd say the same thing."

The memory of my dad brought tears to my eyes once again. Sure, I thought of him every single day since he'd died, but it was only in more emotional and significant moments like this that his smile returned to me.

My father always believed in me and would always trust me, even at my tender age. I could almost hear his voice say, "Go, my son. I know you will make me proud. I am sure, certain that you will glorify the name of our great people, and our nation."

My eyelids shut tight and I smiled to myself as I felt once again my father's warm embrace and the confidence he brought to me. When I opened my eyes, the dark red surface of the planet was just a few hundred miles away as my now released Space Fighter was now released from the mothership and blazed at fire speed.

Literally, because all the fighters were on fire as we penetrated the hydrogen-rich atmosphere and the scent burned my nostrils. The vision of fire-orange changed to dark red as we quickly approached the surface.

"Okay, guys! This is it!" I said to the entire army of five billion. Five billion. I'm in charge of five billion. Okay, Spiny. You know for a fact that there will be great losses, including close friends and acquaintances. And there will be nothing you can do to stop it. It's going to happen, period. Just do your best to kick those Red Eye heads.

We all pulled up a few hundred feet above the surface as we raced towards our main targets: the main Red Eye military station and the Capitol City.

Almost immediately hundreds of small specks popped out of nowhere and raced to meet us. Simultaneously, both sides started firing their blaster-like energy shots at each other.

Yeah, you can't avoid other deaths.

But you can avoid yours.

Or can you?


	29. Chapter 29

The first explosions were expected yet they made my heart lurch when they came. Panic started to set in, but I quickly clamped it down. I forced my eyes and my mind on what was in front of me.

I blinked my eyes and the first thirty lines of our ships were all gone. We all knew that the first several lines were always the first ones to go. It's not that I'm a coward and that's why I didn't go up front.

And almost no one wanted to be in front. But now, many brave souls had dared to attempt that task which was equivalent of certain death. In front of me, one of our fighters came up from the bottom and just before crashing into a Red Eye fighter that was streaming towards me, he said, "Ok, King Spiny. Path's clear for you! It's been a pleasure serving you, sir."

My vision turned to one reminiscent of the windshield of a carwash as the front lines came down like flies on front of us. "Okay, our brave first-liners just made it us possible for us to go through!" Larry yelled.

I let out the breath I'd been holding so as to not cry. Not now anyway. "Okay, let's show these idiots who's in charge! Left quadrant leaders, report!" I said.

"Yes, this Left Alpha, checking in!"

"This is Left 5-H, checking in!"

"This is Left 3-Y, checking in!"

"Left 4-K, present, teacher!"

I heard laugher on the radio and ordered, "Okay, I want you all to take your troops and find those power plants! Take them all out! The less energy in the organism, the better we chances we have of killing it!"

"We got that! Here we go! To the brains!" the left quadrant leader yelled.

I sent the right quadrant towards the downtown area of the city while Larry and I and our men headed for the government buildings. For the first hour or so, it seemed as if things were going pretty well. I mean, we had really taken the Red Eye by surprise!

Larry and I rushed downward towards the main streets, blasting the area around us with sonic booms. I caught only slight and quite diminutive glimpses of red-eyed-black-bodied civilians passing by, their arms angrily waving at us. One of them was even shooting at us! Just goes to show you just how twisted the Red Eye society is. If you think of it, it's not their technology that makes them so unbeatable.

It's their own people's support.

I was suddenly thinking of that when Larry yelled, "Hey, Spiny! Do you plan on being the first Amarkian kamikaze pilot?"

"Huh? Why do you ask?"

"Because you're about to crash into a Red Eye tank unless you swerve starboard now!"

I blinked my eyes and saw the giant double-barreled lengths of silicon metal, their inside glowing with white plasma energy.

The white solid beams pulsated from the gray weapon and the brilliant flash blinded my vision. I panicked. I let of of the controls and shielded my face not just from the light but also from the potential danger of having my face being vaporized.

I felt something strike the back of my fighter and I was thrown forward by the impact of the blast. When I pulled my face away from the windshield, blood dripped from my jaw and I felt the jagged ends of my broken front teeth. I felt a warm sensation on my cheek as the injury from the incident back on Earth had now opened and fresh blood stared flowing, staining my hair and the insides of my helmet.

I felt a violent impact beneath me and the fighter started spinning wildly. The feeling of vertigo and nausea came back and I clenched my jaws to fight vomit. The still vision of the city became a sideways roller coaster as I once again gripped my hands on the control and tried frantically to veer in the opposite direction.

Red emergency lights started flashing and alarms began to blaze. I heard the low groaning of cracking metal behind me as the vent that had been created by the energy blast started making new cracks and everything was flying out.

I shut my eyes to try to calm the vertigo, but it was even worse. I heard a loud shatter and felt lots of tiny prick and lacerations on my face. I didn't dare open my eyes as my safety goggles had somehow managed to fly out. I felt the whole world spinning.

The air rushed effortlessly through my lungs and when the air reached my stomach, I started panicking. My heart started palpitating and my temples began to pound as I felt the blood rush out of my head.

"Spi…wha…ave to…ress Eje…ow! You…ash…to…ed…buil…alace!" I didn't recognize Larry's voice when I heard it. It sounded alien and distant, even though he was probably next to me, watching my fireball crash down to wherever he was we was yelling.

I heard the crash before I felt it.

The impact was strong enough that my titanium-webbing seat-harness torn apart and the force flung me forward towards the crashed wall. My face crashed into the solid metal wall and I heard the sound of celery stalks crunching.

Throbbing pulses of pain erupted over my face and then the rest of my body as it crashed and I felt the heavy sensation of dozens of metal bricks crushing my extremities. I cried out in pain and instantly felt my mouth fill with plaster and dust, making me feel like when I just breathed in a lot of flour.

But this flour was abrasive, sharp, and crude like little shards of shattered glass. The shards got in my eyes and I felt stinging, almost unbearable tears coming out and falling down the sides of my head over my temples.

My body cried out in agony as I started to move. Just the action of moving my hand to my face made me flinch and more stinging tears of pain came out. I could hear the distant noises of spacecraft roaring, blasts of energy and plasma weapons firing, sirens soundings, the crackle of fire.

The scent of smoke burned my nostrils and my vision was clouded. I suddenly felt scalding and drops of sweat started to gush down my face as I gasped for breath. I coughed and the hacks of cough made my temples pulse again.

I turned onto my torso and the vertigo returned. My hair strands covered my face, stained in blood. I could feel the dust layer on my face and my eye blinked as they got off my eyelashes and pinged my retinas.

My already beleaguered eardrums were nearly ruptured when I heard a loud explosion that rocked the ground and more dust and plaster got into my face. I was so startled that I stood up quickly and banged my head against a piece of tiling above me.

That bang sent a new wave of head pain, dizziness and nausea. I clenched my teeth and frantically looked around me to find an exit. The only place that I could escape too was where I'd crashed and my fighter was now on fire.

There was a wall of bricks next to it that seemed quite unstable. I'd never crashed through anything harder than a wall of wet plaster, and that had been a prank. Behind the wall of plaster had been a wall of solid bricks.

Even with my ruined physical condition and with the nausea levels skyrocketing, I decided that I was going to live. I shut my eyes and mentally braced myself. You can do this. You're made of metal. You can crash through anything. Just do it! Larry's probably outside waiting for you!

I pumped my legs, which were now burning and weak. I felt the side of my body explode and the crash of bricks and was meet with fresh air, feeling the sunlight of Kako Fos. The pain was now unbearable and I was now crying.

The sounds of dogfights miles above me continued to play in my mind as they happened.

I heard the pattering of light footsteps. My heart lurched as I felt the shadow of the Red Eye over my head. The breathing was raspy and tired and I felt the long claws grip my shoulders.

I was pulled up quickly into a standing position and my eyes opened. I almost fainted when I saw the familiar tan-and-brown-striped face with the long snout and hundreds of tiny teeth. "Larry?!"

"Oh, Spiny! I'd thought we'd lost you! You okay?"

Considering my Space Fighter was struck three times, erupted into flames, crashed into the side of a building, and I nearly didn't make it…yeah, I'm okay. "I'll be fine! What's happening?"

"It's a stalemate now! Neither side is winning! I secretly send additional troops to try to conquer the uninhabited planets. Where they grow all their crops and all."

We heard a crackling sound and we both darted to our left. Larry pushed me out of the way where the side of the building came down and my head impacted on the road. More dust caused more coughing. My throat was now dry and felt like it had been scarred at with a knife.

The place where Larry had been was now a mass of tumbled bricks and bars of steel sticking out. I suddenly felt cold and I was sure I was turning pale. No…no…Larry…

"Ah, I see we meet again, Spiny!" That voice ran chills down my spine and goosebumps erupted all over my devastated body. I whirled around and saw the massive Red Eye with his iridium-silicon armor come to me with a nefarious smile.

"Ferralzo?" I responded, trying not to sound weak to the Red Eye prince. The very son of the Great Emperor Igétis.

"You have caused enough trouble, you and your Boy Scouts. I think it's time we ended our little dispute," he said, pulling out his Rayblade, it's light-blue flash filling it's titanium container and making its distinctive Pssshhew sound.

He stepped towards me menacingly, the electro-energy contained beam pointed at me. I stepped backward and felt myself back into the corner. I tripped over a long, thin object. I don't know what made me think…I just did it.

I pulled it, pushed a rainbow-cube button and the dark gray empty containment lit up light blue, making its own Pssshhew!

"It'll be a pleasure to kill you," Ferralzo said.

"Not if I can help it," I answered, swinging my Rayblade towards him.


	30. Chapter 30

Our weapons clashed with an electrifying flash and I felt my skin tingle as the loose electrons jumped off the Rayblades. The sweat rolled down my temples as I struggled against Ferralzo's muscular build, added by his heavy armor. As our Rayblades crashed again, he thrust forward.

My weakened body was easily flung backward and I felt the impact vibrate my bones. I was in so much pain that I literally couldn't feel anything else. It was like when you go visit Central America in the rainy season and you hear so much rain that you don't hear it anymore.

I struggled to get up as Ferralzo ran at me, shouting and swinging the Rayblade over his head to strike down. My arm now on fire, grabbed my weapon and I blocked his blow. The impact of both electric weapons striking forced him back.

I groaned as I struggled to stand up. My legs were now so exhausted that they were trembling and I gripped my hand onto a fallen piece of steel reinforcement to not fall again. I was feeling light-headed and ready to faint.

But I wasn't about to give in.

He came running at me again not dripping a drop of sweat and absolutely no injuries of any sort. I was obviously a mess. My clothes were soaking in blood, sweat, and…well…I was scared, okay!

We both swung our Rayblades at the same time and I felt the hair stand up again as my tired arm strained to hold on and push. It felt like trying to push a weightlifting champion with a 50-pound weight.

He was well aware of my weakened physical condition and was using it as his advantage. He had a bone-chilling sneer and I could feel his hot, foul breath in my face making my stomach feel green.

We went back and forth for several intense seconds, as we both dueled endlessly, without nobody gaining an inch forward or back.

I gasped for more oxygen to enter my lungs and give my body more energy. My right forearm now was burning and I felt the muscles straining to keep up with pace with Ferralzo. His movements were quick, intricate, and well-coordinated. It was like he'd been practicing with my hologram or something.

I mean, this guy was not showing any signs of exhaustion or fear. Not even concern that any normal villain would have. Then again, Red Eyes are no normal group of villains. This was all unprecedented. I had no training, no energy, was on the verge of losing my mind, had just lost my best friend, and had absolutely no idea how the battle was going around me.

Ferralzo leered again and said, "Why don't you just give up already, huh? Don't worry. When I slice your head off with claws, I'll make it quick and painless. Maybe."

I blocked his blow towards my right cheek just in time. Our Rayblades came together and they were so close to my face that I felt my eyebrows tingle. My hands were now drenched in sweat and I felt the handle of the Rayblade slipping.

"I'm not giving up!" I squeaked out, routing all my energy into pushing him.

I only managed to push him about two feet away and he was still close enough that I had to continually switch the Rayblade from hand to hand so it wouldn't slip and bring me the death sentence.

I'm not sure what it was. Maybe it was the tension or fear. But all of the sudden, my fingers began to tremble and the Rayblade slipped from my fingers. The sound of its clank on the ground made me freeze.

Ferralzo wasted no time. He knocked me down with his metallic fist, knocking all air out of me. I felt the back of my neck scrape against something and I felt stabs of pain resonate all over my head. I felt sure that my head was going to explode.

I turned my head back up and felt a searing hot pain on my left shoulder as Ferralzo's Rayblade make contact with it. I felt my muscles contracting rapidly and it felt like they had become torn rubber. My skin felt scalding hot and I caught the scent of burnt flesh, like burnt meat. I heard a loud hiss as the sweat, tears, and blood turned into steam. My vision became foggy as the steam obscured my view of Ferralzo's face.

I screamed in pain until my throat lost all its vocal functions. When he finally pulled away, I clenched my teeth and the tears that came out added to the pain as they became steam, leaving small burns on my cheeks.

I glanced down at my shoulder.

All layers of clothing had been torn away and my skin was an ugly black-red charred tone with jagged edges, crevasses of blood and even fried nerves and burnt tendons. I was able to distinguish charred splinters of bone.

"Any last words?" he asked, raising it above his head, ready for the killer blow. I was too weak to speak and the agonizing pain from my shoulder drained out all my energy. I relaxed my body and laid my head back, ready to die. I closed my eyes and released the breath I'd been holding.

I braced myself for my death.

The ground was rocked by a tremendous explosion and I felt everything shake violently from side to side. I felt the heat on my right cheek as if a fire were burning nearby. Then I heard a loud scream of pain and the sound of metal clanking.

When I finally dared to open my eyelids I saw Ferralzo had been thrown several yards away and about half of his armor was disintegrated. I suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline and the stabbing pain in my shoulder vanished. I still struggled to stand up, as I had suffered a considerable amount of blood.

I grabbed my Rayblade which was still lying in the same place. I pounced on it and blocked Ferralzo's strike just in time. "You aren't going to get out of here! Not with blood still in your vessels!"

I struggled as I swung the weapon in my hand, the sparks now flying everywhere. My sore and exhausted muscles suddenly felt alive and full of energy. I swung wildly at him, and now he was struggling to keep up.

I could tell he was surprised at my sudden burst of energy. But I knew that once it was over, the pain would return, worse than before. I forced my mind on not getting myself killed. My heart raced with excitement and the neurons in my brain fired at top speed as I was starting to take the offensive now.

We swung and struck at each other endlessly as I slowly forced him to back up into the corner of a building that was still standing, the sounds of war still echoed around us. As I backed him, I felt the adrenaline starting to slowly wear off as my heart palpitated and the sweat started coming down again.

"Why don't you just take the easy way?" Ferralzo growled taking a swing at my neck. I blocked it just in time and exclaimed as I forced his Rayblade in the opposite direction. "Just give me the Terra-Track and we'll fix our little conflict!"

I took a sideways blow at him and the point grazed his right arm. I felt the electricity drain and I saw the metal hissing. "Not in a million years!" I shouted back, as our Rayblades crashed together again.

The scene suddenly became fast and blurry. As he swung the shining light-blue ray of energy at my ribs, I swung my arms back and lunged forward with all the renewed energy I had left in me. I heard the sound of air whooshing and his Rayblade went flying out of his hands and disappeared out of sight.

I thrust my body against him, almost flying into him and pushed him onto the concrete, his metal armor clanking. I pointed my Rayblade at him. "This is the last time your Empire ever gives us trouble. Nothing lasts forever."

"Yes, nothing does? Does it?" he answered, not the least bit scared.

I didn't know what it was; whether he thought he was dying hero or he wasn't afraid of death. To heck with that! I was sick and tired of this whole thing. In a dream-like stance, I sunk my Rayblade into his skull.

My nostrils caught the scent of burnt flesh, metal, and smoke. A brilliant flash of sparks emanated from where the Rayblade touched his face and I shielded my face with my other hand. I felt his body quavering and his metal boots bouncing up and down on the floor.

After ten agonizing seconds I pulled my arm back and the flash of sparks died out and the sounds of electricity faded. I opened my eyes and glanced at Ferralzo's dead body before me. I felt a feeling of…relief. Of rest. Relaxation.

The Rayblade dropped from my hand and I dropped to my knees. Sure enough, the pain started coming back, but it wasn't worse than before as I had predicted. I heard the sound of something landing nearby and saw a Space Fighter from our side land about 100 feet away from me.

The pilot jumped out and ran towards me. "Spiny! Thank goodness you're all right!"

"Larry?! Larry!" We ran to each other and crashed into each other's brotherly embrace. I panted for breath as I tried to regain my energy. "How did you…"

"I managed to escape. I ordered one of our surviving men to shoot Ferralzo. He missed but the blast of the impact was enough to send him flying away enough so that you would have time."

I was about to open my mouth, but another nearby explosion sent both of us running towards the spacecraft. I sat next to him and strapped on my belt as Larry took off and pointed the nose of the spacecraft towards the sky. "Hey, where are we going?"

"We're leaving! We managed to destroy their main military bases and important documents in their government buildings. I don't want to provoke anything deadly."

Strangely, I felt a sense of relief that we were leaving. But a sense of dread as I came to the realization that things weren't over yet.

Once we left the Red Eye planet's atmosphere, Larry veered us back to the motherships. Several hundreds of other Space Fighters were now joining us also. Hundreds. Just hundreds. And we started out with billions. Well, Larry did send more to other planets.

I tried to keep those grim thoughts out of my mind as we entered the dock of the mothership. Once we landed, a rush of space cadets and a few high-ranking officials raced towards us in a frenzy.

Larry and I jumped out of our vehicle and were greeted by the ship's soldiers. It was a great commotion and everyone was shouting and speaking at once, saying how glad they were to see me, if I was all right and all. When I assured them I was okay, one of the captains ordered them to leave to their stations and pulled me aside.

"Sir, I know we are in the midst of an important operation. But…we must return to Earth at once."

"Why? Has something happened?"

"A few hours ago, we received transmission that the IEO had attacked Amarkia and there are heavy losses and quite possibly, deaths and injuries."

I felt like someone had thrown a bucket full of ice water at me. My whole body became ice-cold. My heart literally stopped beating and I felt the gasps of my breath escaping. "What…that…that can't be!"

"I'm afraid it is. I'd go into hyperdrive, but even that would take several minutes, given the great distance we are from the Milky Way. So we'll just Teleport the ship. Others will stay behind to continue and others have been sent to conquer other Red Eye planets. May I advise that you go to the bridge and take your seat."

Larry pushed me forward and we slowly made our trek upwards to the bridge of the ship. Once I was seated, some medical staff came and they placed a large, warm gauze on my left shoulder, which had begun to erupt into flames of pain again. But those doctors really helped and they gave me some pills to counteract the pain.

Remember, we are Amarkians.

I closed my eyes and tilted my head back as I felt the ship groan as it entered into Teleport Mode. I didn't bother to open my eyes; I'd seen this hundreds of times. I felt the brilliant flash of white light, the sound of the transportation, and then darkness again.

I was so tired out and weak, so Larry strapped my harness on as we entered the atmosphere. The sweat returned as flames erupted on the ship's exterior as we penetrated our life-giving, oxygen-rich shield.

The rest of the trip down was dream-like. A lot of things came to my mind. My father, Lilia's adorable smile and her remarkable beauty, my wonderful family, Roger and Darla on their first date, and the sight of my beautiful capitol city, Sauropolis.

Larry broke me out of my trance when we landed. We stepped down and I just dropped to my knees and started kissing the moist, fresh grass on the ground. Ahhh! It felt great to be back home.

I then looked up and saw plumes of thick smoke in the distance. Larry and some Royal Guards helped me to TIV, which was waiting for me. I was even relieved to see him! Even though it's not a living thing, I see TIV as a friend.

I quickly fell asleep on the trip back. I was so deep in my sleep that I didn't dream. That ever happen to you?

It must have been about an hour or so later when Larry shook me awake. He had a look of great melancholy and somberness that I had never seen before. I stared at him puzzled. He pointed out the window, where we had stopped at the side of the road. We were at a road cliff, overlooking the skyline of Sauropolis.

When I followed the direction of his finger, I felt my breath escaping and the sense of a great burden came upon me. I then felt my throat close up and my eyes became blurry with water.

My great city, Sauropolis, was dying.


	31. Chapter 31

The Great Palace

Residence of Great Emperor Igétis

Unknown location

"You must state your business!" the Imperial Guard of Corps yelled at the soldiers. "You cannot just barge in here and say you have to speak urgently to the Great Emperor. He is not one to be disturbed."

"You don't understand!" one of the injured men said, his iridium-silicon armor nearly about to fall off. "It's very important! It's urgent! It's…" his sentence was abruptly cut short when the Imperial Guard ended his life with a proton gun. "He is not a Red Eye. Red Eyes are not panicky or cowards. Didn't you know that?" he said, kicking at the lifeless body.

"Take him away," the second soldier said in a casual tone of voice. A group of five masked men came in an almost robotic stance and grabbed the dead man's carcass, his long, severed tail dragging behind. "I didn't like him anyway, so I won't even tell his family."

"Yes, of course," the guard answered, his gaze lingering on the dead weight the masked men carried away. "And you will join him unless you can give me a good reason to let you see the Emperor without being called. You do know that you can be hanged for that, right?"

"I am fully aware of that. I was taught in the best law schools in the Empire before becoming a Fleet Commander. I have no reason to reveal anything to you. Only that this is most importance concerning the Emperor himself and realm of his power."

The Imperial Guard clicked his steel-gray, smooth-yet-sinister looking weapon at him. "I guess I'll just have to give the Emperor a good reason for having killed you: doubting the very power of our High Entity himself!"

"You want a good reason? All right! I did not do this by my own will. Let that be known!" He dragged a covered odd-shaped object on the floor and removed the blanket. The guard's expression became ice and stone. "Tha…that's the Emperor's Son! Ferralzo!"

"Do I need a good reason now?"

Instead of answering, the guard ran into the Emperor's quarters, leaving the Fleet Commander staring at the silver titanium walls. His reflection teetered along the curves and indentations, transforming his image into a truly alien-like form.

He knew well that Red Eyes were not to feel fear of anything nor no one. Just yesterday he had received a call to kill a young kid who was scared of the dark. The reason? Fear was an unthinkable element of Red Eye society and all those who manifest it, even the young ones, must be executed so to as not contaminate the Red Eye race.

He dared not to let his actual fear that he felt creep in. Everyone knew of the rumors that there were mind cameras literally all over the place to search for the undesirables. But he knew that his fear was a healthy one. He like everyone else, wished for the Empire to last forever and to dominate the universe.

And no Amarkian, not even a %*#&^! like King Akanthodis "Spiny" Kyverná was going to get in the way.

"His High Entity will now see you," the still-faced guard said to the Fleet Commander, breaking him out of his trance. Though he said nothing. Daydreaming, though not cause of a death sentence was also viewed as crass.

"Thank you." He covered the young Red Eye's body and stepped into a dark, gloomy chamber were only a small slit of light penetrated. His eyes made out the figure of the Great Emperor; only his hands and feet were actually discernible.

"Ah, Commander Fierol."

He lowered his head in respect. "Oh, Great Emperor Igétis Nassdar. May the spirit of our great Lord Skliros accompany you! Life, prosperity, health and eternity to you, oh Giver of Life and Protector of the Empire."

"Commander, what brings you here?"

"Oh, my Supreme Lord, I bring troubling news."

"I have not yet known of any news that could trouble me. Are you certain of what you speak, Commander of the Fleet?"

"Yes, though would that I didn't. This is a deeply personal and critical matter. The attack, sir? By the Amarkians and their allies?"

"I will not hear of such a thing!" he yelled, causing a loud thunderclap when he brought down his fist. "This is not of a matter to which be spoken of!" He extended his hand out. "The new generation will not know about this embarrassing defeat. We will say that we demolished them."

"Sir, I am afraid that the trouble I bring is of more importance."

"What more trouble could you possibly bring?"

"This, sir." He removed the blanket from Ferralzo's corpse, dancing along the shimmering wind. He did not perceive any change in the Emperor's posture or expression. "King Akanthodis of Amarkia killed him. I was a witness. I am terribly sorry."

"Anafthei!" the Emperor's voice boomed throughout the walls. The Captain of the Imperial Guards, his titanium-iridium armor gleaming in the gloomy light took Commander Fierol completely by surprise. "You do understand, Commander, that there are certain things that no Red Eye must ever let happen."

"Sir! I implore on your mercy! I do not fear for my own life! I do not even fear for my family's life! They do not matter. I fear for your great Empire, oh Great Lord of Evil."

"But the fact of the matter is that you fear. And you have begged. And I show no mercy; it is unfit for the Great Emperor." His voice sounded as he spoke the words that all Red Eyes knew was the sign of certain death. "Jaekemal!"

Feirol felt the dark energy blast incinerate his chest and just before his eyes rolled into white balls, he caught glimpse of his heart being blasted out of his body and his eyes came to see it as he collapsed.

"Take him away. And eliminate his entire household and family. I want no trace of cowards! And bring in the Superior General of the Fighting Power. General Narake."

"At once, Great Lord of Evil!"

"The Emperor is indeed in a great state of despair. But not grief. Grief in unthinkable in our society. Not even a tragic loss like the one our High Entity suffered must make us lose our purpose." General Narake's tough, ear-ringing voice echoed throughout the room full of high-ranking officials.

"We have many other troubles, sir," his First Sergeant spoke. "The Space Armies and Inter-Dimensional Forces have aided Amarkia in conquering five of our planets. I…I cannot explain how it happened! I never thought that our men would be…"

"Yes, I understand your concern, Sergeant Fasdroul. It worries me too. Yet, the Great Emperor myself has asked me to inquire in this matter and I have come up with a brilliant way to avenge our great Prince's death."

"And what is that?" Commander Nastet asked. "Do you want to kill a member of the Royal Family?"

"Perhaps. But….I think we should continue to have fun with them. We can't if they are dead, can we? Yet, now would be the time to execute our sentence against King Spiny. Amarkia was just recently attacked by the IEO. They are in no state to face us."

He set a large, metallic box on the table. "Like I said, the Emperor agrees with my plan. I had to stop him from turning me into a regent Prince. I simply cannot accept that in my conscience. However, we have orders to attack Amarkia as soon as possible. My men are ready. And we will…hurt Spiny in a place where no black hole bomb or dark matter pistol can ever hurt." He fingered his way through some photographs, finding his selected one.

"You want us to kill one of his friends?" Sergeant Fasdroul asked.

"You are very perceptive, Sergeant. We have rehearsed it many times and have consulted our Time Cubes to see just how things will plan out. They will never suspect that this was a planned attack."

"Make it seem like an accident? Like, we were trying to kill Spiny but accidently kill his friend that we are going to eliminate?"

The General snickered. "Yes, you are perceptive. I could not have said it better myself."

"And just who are we going to take care of?" Commander Nastet said.

"This is the one," General Narake said. He placed the photograph for all to see. In the fading light of the room, was the picture of a smiling young boy with green eyes and shaggy blonde hair.

Back on Amarkia

Three hours after arrival from Red Eye planet

The Royal Palace

The pain in my shoulder has subsided somewhat, returning only occasionally when I least expected, like a vicious evil Velociraptor and her pack, hunting for prey. Unsuspecting, unwary, and completely unprepared.

"Ow!"

"Hurt again?" Lilia said.

"Yeah, a little." I sat up on my bed and rubbed my shoulder, wincing and clenching my teeth. The empty space in the front caused by the broken ends of my incisors. It felt so weird, feeling the empty space with my tongue. It made me get shivers and my toes crawl.

"Here, let me see if this helps," Lilia said, kneeling on the bed behind me and placing her warn hand on my bare shoulders. My clothing was pretty much messed up and Kathy didn't have time to do the laundry while we were gone, so I had to remain shirtless while Larry went out to buy at least two clean shirts.

The feeling of Lilia's hands on my bare shoulders sent a warm, fuzzy feeling into me and I felt my heart turning into putty. The way her fingers danced over my tensed muscles. I let out a long, relaxed sigh and my eyelids sank.

"That feels great!"

"I'm glad." The sound of her voice so close to me, made my hair stand up and I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. I opened my eyes and turned my face to look at her. She glanced at me directly and her eyes of honey melted before me. Her angel smile and the dimples on her cheeks and her adorable blush…

My left hand began to move upward without my brain's permission and it grasped her head gently towards mine. She placed her arms around me as our lips came together and erupted into sparks. I felt the sensation of her tongue on mine and they started pushing against one another. My hands wavered down to the hem of her blouse and I felt my blood start to boil.

As she started to moan…Larry burst in and said, "What are you doing?!"

We both jumped and in the process we not only managed to bump our heads together, we also bumped our front teeth together. I felt my face blush from embarrassment and anger. I turned a murderous glare on Larry. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?!"

"How am I supposed to knock if the door is fully open?"

I sighed. I wasn't going to waste my energy with him. He just shook his head and smiled. "Teenagers…I can't leave you two alone for more than two minutes and you're already making out."

My eyes fixed on Larry and became slits. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Lilia glancing down at the floor, biting her lip, blushing…and smiling? "It's okay, Spiny," she said. She stood up and placed her hand over my cheek. "I'll come back up later, okay? Just going to check on the Woods' Tribe." She kissed my again, sending pleasant shivers all the way down my back.

After she left, Larry handed me a turquoise collared shirt. "You think this will do?"

I placed the shirt on and checked how I looked in the mirror. Scarred face, slightly bumpy left shoulder, chipped front teeth, hollow cheeks, and maybe about 5% more muscle mass from the Rayblade duel with Ferralzo.

"Well, considering what we just went through, I can afford to say that I'm satisfied." I was still fixing my hair with my hands, when I said, "How much will it cost to repair Sauropolis. What did Fal say?"

"Nothing good."

"Larry! Can't you two get along for once?"

"All I said was that he needed hair because his brain was catching cold. He tore my pencil and stomped out of the room. Anyway, I found out for myself how much it would be. It would take $67.8 billion and about a minimum of three years to rebuild."

I choked on those words. We had the money to do it, but the time? "Three years? That's a minimum?"

"I didn't even look up what the maximum would be. I was too scared to find out."

I sighed and rested my hands on the mirror furniture. "Well…the last thing we need now is worry about all that and having our minds cramped with all those negative thoughts." I glanced at Larry's hardened stare. "Why don't we go relax a little at Arnold's and release our grip on the world just a tad?"

His expression softened. "Sure thing! I'm going to order their new Super-Deluxe German Chocolate-and-Cappuccino frozen yogurt."

I grabbed my jacket and Larry stepped in behind me down the flights of stairs. When we stepped outside, we were greeted by the ear-piercing sound of an air-raid siren. My darted around in all directions but didn't see anything. Were they testing it? But that was impossible! It wasn't scheduled until tomorrow!

"What's happening?!" I said, now getting quite nervous. After several weeks of attacks, I was wary of everything.

My phone started ringing. "Hello? Yes. You. Are. Kidding. Me. That can't be!" My eye darted upwards and saw dozens of Red Eye fighters coming down at lightning speed and saw in complete shock as they began to fire upon everything.

"Red Eyes?!" Larry was astounded also.

We were caught completely by surprise. Our soldiers were in no condition to fight. We had just come back from days of space travel from a grueling battle with them on their own planet. I felt the terror rise in my throat and I felt my skin grow stone cold.

"Evacuate all civilians! Clear out the streets!" I yelled frantically, waving my arms wildly. Larry ran inside and started speaking to several people at once on his phone while I ran down the street towards town. I heard the screams of people, the squealing of brakes and tires screeching against the road.

I don't know what made my run towards Arnold's. I just assumed that most of my friends would be there now. I pumped my legs, my left shoulder bringing back pangs of pain. I winced and tried my best not to cry. I needed composure for whatever happened. I heard the loud blasts around me as entire buildings were vaporized and my stomached quenched when I saw some people who had been burnt alive.

Mobs were now overrunning the entire intersection of where Arnold's was. As I was pushing through the crowds of people, I heard a loud screeching from above. When the bomb made impact I threw myself to the ground and covered my neck, like during those school drills.

I heard loud screams of people and cries of pain from the dinosaurian citizens. I felt something spiky against my side. I glanced and saw the severed tail of a young Stegosaurus. I quickly stood up and my legs burned as I tried to run away from the horrible sight unfolding around me.

Everything that happened next is still a blur now that I remember it.

Angry flames rolled in a semi-liquid way out of the windows of Arnold's and I felt the searing heat on my face, sweat dropping over my nose. I heard the shattering of glass and the popping of leather. And the screams. The blood-curling screams. Of people. Young people. Teenagers. Kids. Being burned alive. Being cooked by the hellish flames while still alive.

I could make out the silhouettes, but it may have been my imagination. The front doors crashed open, and a blonde boy covered in soot came out, holding a girl's hand, also with blonde hair and a torn leather jacket. I instantly recognized them and had such a sudden change of emotions that I got dizzy.

"Roger! Darla!" I ran toward them, ignoring the now unbearable pain from my injury. They both glanced up at me and still coughing, we meet halfway and I quickly embraced both of them. I could see steam coming off their hair and their clothes were very hot. I saw a piece of glass had cut the top of Darla's earlobe, staining her gold-blonde hair a visible red. Roger was bleeding from his eyebrow and his nose. But none of them seemed to be in pain. It must've been the adrenaline.

I heard the sounds above me of blades whirring and pounding. I waved my arms and jumped up and down to signal the helicopter to stop above us. The pilot finally saw me and he came a few hundred feet above us, the loud blows of air pushing us down like a great giant.

"Get in the chopper! They'll take you to the hospital! You guys need to see a doctor!" I shouted at Roger and Darla above the noise of the blades. They nodded and Roger pushed Darla forward as the soldiers opened the doors for them. Once they were seated and buckled in, the soldier gave the pilot a thumbs-up and they went airborne again. The pilot pointed the nose of the chopper northwestward, in the direction of the city. The hospital was one of the few buildings that had been left relatively unharmed.

That's when it happened.

Like I said, looking back, it's still blurry and quick-paced.

A Red Eye spacecraft suddenly appeared out of nowhere and shot at the chopper. And this time, it didn't miss. There was a loud and violent impact on the left side and I caught the sight of both doors and a falling soldier flying off. The Red Eye must've fired at the pilot, because the chopper went dizzyingly out of control and started spinning nose-down.

I panicked as I felt my heart in my throat. "Roger! Do something! Put your parachutes one! Jump! Get out of there! Jump! JUMP!" My cries were unheard. Both by Roger and by anyone. The screaming, the explosions, and the crackling of a burning inferno not more than twenty feet away all became muted as I saw the horrible sight of the chopper carrying my two friends crash and transform into a fireball.

All my vision became blurry as it focused on the totaled helicopter, now in flames. My temples pounding and I stopped breathing. I don't recall running towards the chopper. I must've, but every time I try to remember those few seconds it took me to get there, it seems like I dream. All I knew is that in the blink of an eye, I was just a few feet away from the burning wreckage.

Several firefighters had arrived already and were drenching the water over everything. The chief, a Liliensternus, with his full gear on was helping one of the others pump water. I was surprised at how quickly they'd put the fire out. One of the firemen, who wasn't pouring water, came to me. "Hello, sir. It seems like the fire started immediately. But if I'm correct, we managed to stop it before it reached the people inside. So, most likely, it will only be some trauma and head injury. But at least they won't suffer severe burns or smoke inhalation."

Thanks for the relief.

I ignored my own mental response and watched with my heart now beating so hard the the fireman actually heard it. The smoke became steam and two of the strongest ones ripped the doors right off.

I was not prepared for when they pulled Darla and Roger out. They looked limp and lifeless. My hands started shivering and I was now hyperventilating. No...no…please be alive. Both Darla and Roger were unconscious and Darla's whole face was a bloody mess. And Roger had several lacerations on his earlobes and a piece of metal had struck him deeply on the chin. But I was somewhat relieved to see that they had not suffered any external life-threatening injuries.

As both firemen began performing CPR on both, I yelled, "A hospital! We need to get them to a hospital! Call an ambulance! Or another chopper! No! Get the ambulance with a full police escort!"

The fireman who was attending Darla stood up. "Okay. We're loading her up. They'll get in contact with her parents."

"She doesn't live with her parents," I said quickly. "She lives with her sister. She's her legal guardian. A college graduate. In the suburb of Veralte." That's on the northwestern side of Sauropolis.

"Okay. When we reach the hospital, I'll make sure they put her immediately in the treatment room. I may not be a doctor, but I'm pretty sure she's in a coma."

"Oh, god!" I said, my throat closing up. A coma's pretty bad. I've been in one, and it's a horrendous experience to live through. But at least the meant that she had a chance to live. I saw the fireman with Roger was struggling and I heard him panting. When I saw him sigh and slowly stand up, I felt my hands and legs quiver again.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you calling an ambulance?" I yelled.

The fireman looked at my with a mournful look. I caught a tear coming from his eye. "I'm sorry, sir…he's…he didn't make it."

I felt a cold, dry something grip the inside of my throat, like something had gotten lodged in it. My heart stopped beating. Everything froze in my vision. "No…no! NO! NO! He can't be dead! Don't tell me he's dead! Don't lie to me! Please! Say that he'll make it! Call an ambulance!"

He shook his head as the fires miles behind him invaded the blue skies with angry, black smoke. "I'm sorry, son," he said in a fatherly tone. "He's dead."

I collapsed on my knees and I brought my palms to my face. "No! NO! No, please. No, please! This can't be happening! This can't be! No! Roger!" I bawled and sobbed at full voice. The tears now came pouring out and I cried as my vision of my blonde-haired, green-eyed brother-like friend's lifeless body contemplated me.

He's dead.

You've just lost Roger Loski.

Forever.


End file.
